


Teenage Satellites

by Deadlihood



Category: EXO (Band), SHINee, f(x)
Genre: Alternate Universe- College, Fluff, Frat Life, M/M, Mild Homophobia Mention, Romance, Roommates, Smut, Teen Angst, kyungsoo's here he's just really busy, odd eye! kibum, stupid college kid shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-22 19:02:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11386446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deadlihood/pseuds/Deadlihood
Summary: Sehun the college freshman is a little out of his depth.





	Teenage Satellites

Sehun’s mother turned around from where she’d been mindlessly shifting the framed photograph of their family around on the desk. Sehun, seated on his new plaid bedspread, knew she was just trying to prolong having to say goodbye. Sehun didn’t want to say goodbye either, didn’t want to be alone in the room with the other half still blank and unoccupied.

Her eyes were rimmed in red. “Come here, baby.” Sehun folded into her arms easily, tucking her under his chin. She’d grown so much smaller, or he’d just gotten taller. “Be careful, okay?”

“I always am, Mom.” Sehun didn’t mind the reminder. He knew she worried about him, her openly gay son in a world that wasn’t really ready to accept people like him. “You and Dad will be okay without me.”

“But will you be okay without us?”

“I think I will be. Besides, it’s not like I can’t take the train home and come see you if I need to.” His tone turned teasing. “I’ll bring you all my dirty laundry to do.”

“Not on your life, Hunnie.” She pushed his chest gently, wiping her eyes with her other hand. “All right baby. I’m gonna head home. Call me tomorrow?”

“I will. Bye Mom.” With one last hug, she left the room. He lay back on his bedspread, staring up at the ceiling where they’d spent most of the afternoon putting up glow-in-the-dark stars. His clothes had been easy to take care of, as had his school stuff. But the stars had been important. Now that he didn’t have that skylight in his room to watch the stars from his bed, Sehun’s mom had insisted on putting the stars up.

There was a knock on the door and for a second Sehun thought his mom had come back to say goodbye again. But when he checked through the peephole, it was some guy he’d never seen before. He opened the door cautiously, poking his head out.

“Hey! Are you Sehun or Zitao?” The guy asked, checking his clipboard.

“Sehun.”

“Well, hello Sehun, I’m Luhan, your RA.” Luhan stuck his hand out for Sehun to shake. He took it nervously, giving it an awkward pump before letting go. “I live down at the end of the hall, my door’s all marked up so you’ll be able to find me. Don’t hesitate to come knock if you need anything. I know when I was a freshman I was a wreck.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Sehun managed a real smile for him. The guy had to be older than him to be a RA, but he looked like Bambi come to life. His purple unicorn hair was not helping his image either. Then again, Sehun had just dyed his hair back to black to get rid of his high school blond. He didn’t have much room to talk.

“So, when Zitao gets in I’ll probably be back to give the same spiel. I won’t be offended if you leave the room. You know where the showers are?”

“Down the hall, on the left?”

“Yep. I’ll be taking everyone to the dining commons for dinner in about an hour, so I hope you’ll come too.” With a final smile, Luhan headed off down the hall. Sehun felt like he was going to like his RA.

He’d barely stretched out on his bed to watch the ceiling again when the door opened, unlocked by none other than the mysterious Zitao. Sehun’s mother had short nails and had worn leggings and a loose longsleeve to move Sehun in. Zitao’s mother had acrylic fingernails and she even _smelled_ expensive.

“Oh, you must be Sehun.” Zitao said when he finished dumping two big suitcases on his bed. “I’m Zitao, but I go by Tao.”

“Nice to meet you.” Sehun shook his hand and bowed respectfully to his mother, who just gave him a small smile. He put in his headphones and tried to be unobtrusive while Tao and his mom started unpacking him. They chattered back and forth to each other in what sounded like Mandarin as they worked. Even with her acrylics and her expensive clothes, Mrs. Huang didn’t seem too concerned about heaving suitcases around and hanging up clothes.

Luhan knocked on the door exactly an hour later to call everyone to dinner. Sehun got up and grabbed his shoes. Tao declined at first, until Mrs. Huang urged him to go.

“Go on Taozi, you should be with them the first night.” She kissed her son and hugged him tightly. Sehun felt a lump rise in his throat. He already missed his own mom.

Sehun pretended not to see the tears in Tao’s eyes as they followed the crowd behind Luhan. The RA was chattering on about whatever building they were passing. The roommates were at the back of the crowd, both not sure where they fit in the group.

Finally, Sehun couldn’t take it any longer. “I miss my mom too. It’s okay. We’re gonna be okay.”

Tao let out a choked breath. “I know. I’ve just never been away from her.”

“Me either.” He nudged Tao’s shoulder with his own. “What’s her name?”

“Huang Liqiu. It means beautiful autumn.”

“My mom is Oh Nari. It means lily.”

“Pretty.” Tao looked up at him finally, tears at the corners of his winged eyes. “How are you so calm?”

“I shit myself before you came in, don’t think I’m calm.” That got a laugh out of him. Sehun smiled, slinging an arm around his shoulder. “I think all college freshmen go through this. First time away from our parents and all that. But you know, that,” he pointed up at Luhan’s purple head, “is our new dad.”

“We’re fucked.” Sehun bent over and cackled.

He and Tao mostly kept to themselves during the piss-poor dinner at the dining commons. The rest of their floor was trying to awkwardly get to know each other, but he and Tao had already hit it off. Sehun was especially happy when Tao told him that his mom had snuck a hot plate and an electric kettle into his stuff so they could make food in their room.

“So, what are you majoring in?” Tao asked when they got back to their dorm. He had flicked on his desk light to avoid the harsh fluorescent overheads while he unpacked stuff for his desk.

“I’m a dance major.” Sehun, sat on his yoga mat and doing stretches, wondered how obvious it was that he was a dance major.

“Cool. I’m doing art, mostly illustration.” Tao pointed at a print his mom had hung up over his desk. “I did that.”

“Really? That looks great!” He was being completely honest too. He liked Tao’s realistic style mixed with the soft coloring.

“Yeah we’re going to be the super artsy room.” Tao glanced at Sehun doing the splits behind him, what looked like a makeup bag in his hand. “I’m guessing the super gay room too.”

“You too?”

“Yeah. Gay as sin.” He held up the makeup bag in his hand. “I wear makeup most every day. It’s just like painting on my face.”

“I’ve never put makeup on.” Sehun said thoughtfully, switching to do the splits in the other direction.

“You teach me to do that, I’ll do your makeup for you.”

“Sounds like a deal.” Sehun rolled over onto his back, pulling his feet back over his head. “Have you ever had a boyfriend before?”

“A couple. Didn’t really count. My town wasn’t super big on the homo, you know? What about you?”

“Never.” Sehun stared up at his stars wistfully. “Who knows, maybe we’ll find boyfriends here.”

“Maybe we will.” Tao ripped the tape off another box on the floor and let out an exasperated sigh. “I have too much shit. I’m gonna deal with this in the morning.”

“Yeah, I shoved a bunch of stuff under my bed so I wouldn’t have to see it.” Sehun unrolled his body from the stretch. “I think I’m gonna shower.”

“Mind if I come with you? The prison showers kind of scare me.”

Sehun laughed, grabbing his towel and his shower caddy. “They’re barely prison showers. They’re stalls.”

“Still. Not my thing.” Sehun waited as Tao located his towel, a pair of clean underwear, and his shower stuff.

At this hour of the night, and the first night at that, the bathroom was pretty empty. Sehun took the stall at the very end, Tao in the one right next to him. There was a small changing area behind a curtain, and then another curtain that separated the shower and the changing room. It was nondescript gray tile, with a plain showerhead and shoddy water pressure. At least the water was hot and he could scrub the moving sweat out of his hair. He could hear Tao humming softly in the stall next to him.

“Do you sing?” Sehun called over the noise of the running water.

“What?” Tao came closer to the thin wall separating them.

“I said, do you sing?”

“Not really. Mostly in the shower.” Tao laughed, before taking a breath and belting out “Drunk in Love” so dramatically that Sehun practically drowned under the water. When he was done, someone down the row of showers started applauding.

“Great job, Yonce!” The person called. Tao flushed red and wanted to stay in the shower until that person left. Sehun stifled a laugh and turned off his water, getting out to towel off. Tao peeked out when he heard Sehun’s curtain pull back, then emerged, already dried off and in his boxers.

“That was the most embarrassing thing ever.” Tao groaned when they got back into the safety of their room.

“It wasn’t that bad. And they clapped!” Sehun reminded him, pulling on his sleeping shorts.

“Ugh, I don’t want to think about it.” Tao climbed under the mess of his blankets and curled up like a cat. Sehun turned out the lights and climbed into his own bed. The pillows smelled like home, which was nice.

“Hey Tao?” Sehun mumbled after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah?” He saw Tao’s blond head pop out of the blankets in the moonlight.

“I’m glad you’re my roommate.”

Tao smiled. “I’m glad you’re my roommate too.”

\--

In the morning, Sehun dragged himself out of bed and out into the stairwell of their building to call his parents. He settled on the floor, back braced against one wall to enjoy the morning sunshine coming in. The phone rang once, twice, and then it was picked up.

“Hey Hunnie, how was the first night?” Sehun’s dad asked when he picked up the phone.

“It was good. I met my RA, his name is Luhan and I think he’s probably the happiest person I’ve ever met. And my roommate is pretty cool. I think we’re going to get along well.”

“That’s good to hear. Did you, um…” He trailed off.

“Did I tell Tao I was gay? I didn’t have to. He’s an art major, I’m a dance major. And he wears makeup. He figured it out for himself.”

“So both of you are gay, that’s good. Not that I think you need to stick together, but-” Sometimes his dad could get on these rants. Sehun cut him off before he could really get going.

“I know what you mean Dad. It’s always good to have someone around that knows what you’re going through and what your life is like.”

“Why do you say it so much better than I do?”

“Because I’m younger?” Sehun laughed when his dad snorted derisively. “Where’s Mom?”

“She’s outside with Vivi. I’ll go get her.” Sehun heard their creaky screen door open. “Nari! Hunnie’s on the phone!”

Running footsteps, a barking dog, and then his mother’s breathless voice was coming through the phone. “Hi baby! How did you sleep?”

“Fine. The glow in the dark stars helped.” Sehun snuggled deeper into the corner of sunshine.

“And you’re doing okay there? You don’t want to come home?” Something about the tone of her voice made it very clear that she wouldn’t mind coming back to get him.

“I’m fine Mom. My roommate showed up and I think we’re gonna be good friends.”

“Already?”

“He’s a mama’s boy too.” Sehun chuckled. “His name is Tao, he’s an art major, and he described himself as gay as sin.”

“Oh, you’ll get on swimmingly. I can’t wait to meet him.”

“I think you’d like him. Apparently you have a taste for pretty boys, although I can’t really see that with Dad.”

“You’re lucky he went back inside, Sehun.” She still laughed. “Vivi misses you. She slept in your room all night.”

“I miss her too.” Sehun wished she could be here on campus with him. She would have loved all the new things to see and smell, all the new people to meet, all the open space. “Maybe you can bring her up for a visit sometime?”

“We’ll see. She might not make the car ride.” She paused. “Have you eaten yet?”

“No, I called as soon as I woke up.”

“Well go have some breakfast and then go look around the campus. It’ll do you good to get out and see where your classes are.”

“You know, that’s a really good idea. I’ll see if Tao’s up.”

“All right. I love you, baby.”

“I love you too Mom. Kiss Dad and Vivi for me.”

“I will.” They hung up and Sehun went back inside. Tao had slowly started to worm his way out of his cocoon of blankets, sleepy eyes half-open when Sehun came back in.

“God, tell me you aren’t one of those morning people.” Tao groaned, noting the smile on his roommate’s face.

“Not really. I just talked to my parents.” Sehun bellyflopped back onto his bed and pulled the curtain back just an inch to see what the weather was like. Tao still hissed like a vampire at the crack of light it let into the room.

“Why am I so fucking tired?” Tao groaned, finally upright, blond hair sticking up in all directions.

“Because you moved into a dorm yesterday? Shit is exhausting.” Sehun found a clean t-shirt sticking out of the top of his bag and pulled it on, trying to locate yesterday’s jeans. He finally found them stuffed into the closet. By the time he’d gotten dressed, Tao was upright, grumbling softly as he found clean clothes and set them out.

Sehun took the time to go brush his teeth and fix his hair in the communal bathrooms, muttering a polite hello to the guy at the sink next to him. He fussed with his hair long enough that Tao, fully dressed and slightly more awake, came in and brushed his teeth as well.

“Breakfast?” Tao suggested.

“Yeah. Wanna go look for our classes afterwards?” Sehun sighed and gave up on trying to fix his cowlick. He’d just have to put on a snapback and call it a day.

“Dude, that’s smart.” Tao didn’t bother with makeup that day, and once Sehun had found a hat to hide his cowlick under, they headed for the dining commons with what felt like every other freshman in their dorm. It took an eternity to get into the dining commons, and even longer to find a table. Sehun had just thrown his jacket over one of the chairs when there was a tap on his shoulder.

“Hey, do you mind if we join you guys? There’s not a place to sit in this whole commons.” The boy said, pushing his dark hair back from his face to shove it back under his hat. Sehun glanced at Tao, who just shrugged.

“Yeah, go ahead.” Sehun said, smiling in a way he hoped was inviting. His mom had always told him he needed to have a nicer smile when he met new people. The boy waved over whoever was with him and Sehun walked away, following Tao towards the food. There was a lot to choose from, thankfully. Sehun was much happier with this than last night’s soggy ramen.

What he didn’t expect was how much food Tao could eat. The other boy must have made four or five trips back towards the food to Sehun’s two, crowding the table with plates. And that was before the two strangers had arrived with their food.

“Wow.” The silver haired one said, taking in the spread. “Your friend must be hungry.”

“I have no idea.” Sehun shrugged helplessly, lifting his mug of coffee to his lips.

“Well, I’m Taemin. This is my roommate and other half, Jongin.” The black haired boy said. He must have seen Sehun’s confused look and continued. “We’ve been friends since we were babies. We came to university together.”

“Oh nice.” Sehun waved a hand at Tao who came back with a bowl of something else and a cup of coffee. “This is my roommate, Tao, the human dumpster.”

“I like to eat.” Tao said, his voice muffled by the banana he was holding clenched in his teeth. “All those late nights up doing artwork, you need fuel for it.”

“Oh, are you an art major?” Jongin asked, digging into his bowl of rice.

“Yep. What about you guys?” Tao started digging into his array of food, chowing down like he hadn’t eaten in days.

“Nini and I are both dance majors.” Taemin said.

“So am I! Are you guys in that intro course with Park?” Sehun would be ecstatic if he had someone to talk to in that class, even if he was going to be third-wheeling hardcore. He believed they were best friends, but he wasn’t sure they weren’t also banging. That dorm room was probably crazy.

“At eleven? Yeah, we are.” Jongin reached over and took a sip of Taemin’s orange juice, who didn’t even bat an eyelash.

“Guess we’ll be all together then.” Sehun glanced at Tao, who was steadily working through his food. “Are you even breathing?”

“I don’t have to come up for air. It’s a talent.” Tao mumbled around a mouthful of food. Sehun, who knew exactly what he meant, cackled. Taemin and Jongin looked a little confused. Over the course of the meal, Sehun and Tao found out Taemin and Jongin lived just one floor above them, and that Taemin was taking an intro history course with Tao. The pair even agreed to come along to look for their classes with Tao and Sehun as they were cleaning up their dishes.

That turned out to be a disaster. Once released from the confines of the dining commons, Taemin and Jongin spent more time running across the bike paths and tackling each other into the grass than they did trying to get a bearing for their campus.

“Gay.” Tao muttered in Sehun’s ear as they watched the two roommates wrestling in the grass.

“Oh, totally.” Sehun laughed. “Hey, there’s your building.”

“Perfect, it’s not even that far from the dorm.” It seemed to be where all the art classes were held. It certainly seemed artsy; the outsides were covered in murals, all done in different styles, probably by students.

Taemin and Jongin finally rejoined them just in time to locate the dance building. Two of Sehun’s classes were there; the other two were in some dilapidated little building tucked in the middle of a fucking jungle. He had a feeling he was going to dislike being in there. It seemed like there were monkeys and parrots living in the forest surrounding the building.

On the way back to the dorm, Taemin crouched in front of Sehun, who nearly tripped and fell over him.

“Fuck!” Sehun steadied himself, one leg wrapped uncomfortably over Taemin’s shoulder.

“Well I wasn’t planning for it to go this way, but here we go.” Taemin tugged his other leg over his shoulder and stood up fluidly, balancing Sehun’s weight on his shoulders. Sehun flailed his arms for a moment before grabbing onto Taemin’s head with both hands. Jongin was trying to convince Tao to do the same; Sehun’s roommate flat out refused to climb all the way up there, but did accept a piggyback ride from Jongin. It was funny to watch from Sehun’s perch, especially because Tao was taller than Jongin.

Sehun didn’t even mind the stares as Taemin carried him back towards the dorm, and there were plenty. Jongin was still running around like a crazy person, Tao clinging to his back like a koala, and Taemin was singing “Barbie Girl” at the top of his lungs. As weird as they were, Sehun felt budding affection for them. College was a time to accept different people, he supposed. He would have thought they were absolutely nuts and stayed away from them in high school. Now he was looking forward to their first day of dance class where he’d get to see if all this manic energy translated into great dancing.

\--

The first day of dance class was a nightmare.

Sehun had breakfast with Taemin and Jongin in the dining commons, and Jongin insisted on giving him a piggyback ride the whole way there. Taemin carried both of their backpacks while Sehun wrangled his legs around Jongin’s midsection. Jongin had greeted other pedestrians absolutely nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t carrying Sehun on his back, and he wasn’t wearing a pair of very tight shorts to go to dance class in. Taemin cackled the whole way there.

Then, once inside and instructed to start getting stretched, the twin tornadoes yanked Sehun’s legs apart like a pair of chopsticks, insisting that it was a fabulous inner thigh stretch. He just tried not to shriek too loudly and draw attention to them. He may have cranked Taemin’s leg a little too far out too quickly as payback, and enjoyed his painful whimpers.

The bell tower chimed the hour faintly in the distance and Professor Park clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

“Welcome to Dance 101. If this is not the room you’re supposed to be in, I hope you enjoyed the stretching.” He paused, as if waiting for someone to get up and leave. “Great, we’re all in the right place. This is your first taste of what dancing at a professional level will be like. Because this is going to be a shock for some of you, we’re going to be pairing you off with different students who have already gotten some experience. When your mentor calls your names, go over and introduce yourselves.”

Sehun straightened his spine, scanning the line of students up against the wall, wondering who he’d be paired with. Taemin was called over to a girl named Sunyoung, leaving Jongin and Sehun to sweat anxiously together.

To both of their surprise, a boy named Yixing called both of their names, a soft smile on his face. Taemin was visibly pouting over by Sunyoung and another girl. Sehun and Jongin joined Yixing, sitting at his feet quietly until everyone had been sorted out into their little groups. Then Yixing slid down the wall to join them.

Sehun thought he smelled like green tea and laundry detergent, two smells he didn’t hate together. He seemed gentle enough, with a nice smile and a welcoming demeanor.

“So, you’re Sehun, and you’re Jongin. Glad you two color coded yourselves.” Yixing said with a smile, clapping them both on the shoulders. Sehun guessed he meant Jongin being blond and Sehun having his natural dark hair. “Congratulations on getting into the university and being in the dance program. It’s going to be a lot of fun, but a lot of work. Anyway, my name’s Yixing, I’m a third year dance major, and…” He trailed off, thinking. “I forgot what Professor Park wanted us to have ready to introduce each other with.”

Jongin and Sehun glanced at each other with fear in their eyes as Yixing leaned over and asked another dance mentor what the instructions were. Then he returned to them, nodding. “Ahh, it’s our favorite activity outside dance.”

“What if you don’t have one?” Jongin asked.

“You have one, recreational mayhem.” Sehun muttered. Jongin elbowed him in the side.

“Okay, fine, mayhem is my hobby. Sehun’s is worrying and letting his eyebrows communicate his soul.” Jongin grinned when Sehun glared at him.

“You two know each other already?” Yixing asked.

“We live in the same dorm. He and Taemin are absolute nutcases but they’re friendly enough.” Sehun shrugged. “So what’s your favorite activity outside of dance?”

“Mmm, probably cooking. I love eating.” As if on cue, Jongin and Sehun both glanced down at Yixing’s slender frame. “Just because I love eating doesn’t mean all I eat is junk food. Come on guys.”

They didn’t have a chance to respond because Professor Park forced them to stand up and introduce their new group partners, which had always been Sehun’s least favorite part of school. No one really cared about these introductions. Taemin did laugh when Jongin’s favorite activity was recreational mayhem, although Professor Park looked a little concerned.

Sehun finally figured out the point of the mentor students when the professor announced that their first project would be putting together a three person dance. It had to be a mix of songs, with all three featured equally, and the mentor would only assist with the choreography. Sehun felt his stomach drop down around his knees. Whose brilliant idea was this? He and Jongin were only freshmen and they were supposed to put a dance together in two weeks?

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” Yixing soothed when Sehun nearly dropped his phone trying to input Jongin’s number. “Park does this to every class. It’s gonna be okay. We all survive it.”

“Yeah, I’m not so sure.” Jongin looked a little green around the gills and he was looking at Taemin wistfully.

“Hey, I know how to cheer you guys up. My friend’s frat is throwing a party tonight, I can get us in.” Yixing glanced over at where Jongin was staring. “Is he your friend?”

“Best friend and roommate.” Jongin said automatically.

“I’m best friends with the frat president, I can get as many dudes in as I want. Sehun, bring your roommate too if you want.”

Sehun wasn’t sure if a frat party was going to be Tao’s speed, but he definitely wasn’t going to leave him out of it.

 _Frat party tonight_? Sehun typed out quickly while he still had his phone out. He didn’t get a response until he was already at his next class, History of Modern Dance. It was just one floor up from the dance studio he’d been in earlier, but much smaller and less new looking. He guessed the classrooms didn’t get updated as often as the studio.

 _Am I going to have to go as a girl to get us in?_ Tao had replied, a winky face emoji attached to it.

 _Nope. Dance mentor says he can get us in_. Sehun switched to his laptop, opening up iMessage to keep texting in secret. The professor looked about as happy to be there as her students, and made it clear they were just going over the syllabus.

 _Then I’m in. I’m putting you in makeup so prepare your face._ Sehun winced, but closed the message wondering what he would look like in makeup. He’d never had a sister to torture him with makeup, and he’d never really been interested in his mother’s makeup. Maybe he would look good.

He was even looking forward to the makeover, until Tao turned his highbeam bulb lamp onto his face and brandished a set of tweezers. “We’re fixing these first.” He said, diving into Sehun’s eyebrows and plucking out any offending hairs. Sehun hadn’t expected it to hurt as much as it did, but apparently there was a lot of maintenance to be done and having hair ripped out by the root hurt like a bitch.

He thought he wasn’t going to have any eyebrows left, until Tao let him look at himself in the mirror. He looked basically the same, just a little tidier and less hairy in the middle of his forehead. He turned his head to the side, looking at where Tao had cleaned up the arch of his eyebrow, making him look less angry and more…alluring, if eyebrows could be alluring.

“Do you like it?” Tao was holding his hands in front of himself nervously.

“I look _hot_.” Sehun replied, smiling at his roommate. “Dude, I didn’t know eyebrows could do this.”

“Eyebrows are very important. Now, you’ve got good skin like I do, so no need for foundation. But, we will be doing a little bit of eye stuff. You don’t have any eye phobias, right?”

“Nope. Poke away.” He tried to hold perfectly still as Tao lined his eyes with dark kohl, smudging it out gently. By the time he was done, Sehun looked smoky and beautiful, his dark eyes somehow darker and bigger.

“Okay. You’re done. Now go get dressed and start your hair, I’m sure it’ll take you as long as it’ll take me to get ready.” Tao teased, shoving Sehun out of his chair.

“Just because I don’t look like a bird’s nest like _some people_.” Sehun stuck his tongue out at his roommate before diving into the depths of his closet to find a shirt. His first college party was important and he needed to not look like a trashcan.

He finally selected a tight black t-shirt with a tiny cactus embroidered on the pocket and a pair of shredded black jeans to go with it. His hair was still sticking up in all directions from dance class and the nap he’d taken after dinner, but it didn’t look bad. It kind of fit with his rocker look for the night.

Tao went for a loose white tank top, light washed skinny jeans with rips in the knees, and combed his blond hair into careful swoops. The two of them stood side by side, looking at themselves in the mirror.

“We look hot.” Sehun commented.

“Hell yeah we do.” Tao grinned. “We’re the hot, artsy gay room.”

“I mean, we have to compete with Taemin and Jongin on that one.” Sehun checked his phone to see if Jongin or Yixing had texted him yet. Yixing was supposed to pick them up from the dorm and then take them over to the frat house, but hadn’t really been clear when he was coming.

“I don’t think they’re banging. They’re just insane best friends.”

“You didn’t see Jongin in class today. He looked like someone had kicked his dog when Taemin ended up with a different mentor.”

“He’ll live.” Sehun’s phone vibrated and Tao dived on it. “Ah ha! Yixing is downstairs. He group chatted you and Jongin and Jongin’s already responded with a bunch of emojis. We better go before he and Taemin break someone.”

Tao practically dragged Sehun down the stairs and out to the front of the dorm, where Taemin and Jongin were surprisingly calm, waiting next to Yixing.

“Yixing, this is my roommate Tao.” Sehun said as way of introduction. Tao immediately steamrolled him and launched into Mandarin, chattering excitedly at Yixing, who only blinked before switching languages too.

“Okay, that was creepy. How do you switch so fast?” Jongin asked as they started walking towards the frat house.

“Honestly it’s harder for me to speak Korean. Getting to speak in Mandarin is a blessing.” Yixing explained. “Kris, well, his name is Yifan but everyone calls him Kris, is Chinese too.” Tao looked excited at the prospect of meeting another Chinese person. Sehun hadn’t thought about how lonely it must be to be an exchange student and not even get to speak his native tongue. He’d have to make sure Tao and Yixing got each other’s numbers at the end of the night.

Before long, Sehun could hear the thump of the bass coming from the frat house. It was massive, at least three stories, with some Greek letters he didn’t recognize emblazoned on the front. Girls were snaking their way inside past two burly looking guys, a few boys slinking towards them nervously.

Yixing didn’t have any problems like that. He walked right up to one of the burly men and bro-hugged him, before gesturing at the four freshmen behind him to follow him in. They clung together in a tight gaggle as they squeezed through the door.

The music was even louder inside. The front door opened into a huge living room, filled to the brim with people. A long table had been shoved up against one wall, various bottles of alcohols, sodas, and juices intermixed with stacks of red cups.

“Go nuts boys. If anyone asks who you know, say Yixing and Kris, okay?” Yixing said, making sure everyone had heard him. Then he vanished into the crowd, leaving them to their own devices. That was a bad idea.

Apparently everyone except Sehun had been a regular drinker in high school and immediately started pouring shots. Sehun didn’t want to lag behind or look like a lightweight, so he slammed the shots back with them, ignoring the burning in his nose.

Before long, his vision was blurring as he leaned into Tao’s side, laughing hysterically at something Taemin had said. Yixing reappeared, taking in the sight of the well and truly drunk freshmen.

“Come on children, there’s some people I want you to meet.” Yixing herded them towards the corner, where two truly massive guys were standing. Well, one was massive, the other just tall and so gangly he took up a lot of space. One was sandy blond, the top of his hair pulled back into a small ponytail. The other, wearing sunglasses inside and not looking douchey somehow, had fluffy gray hair. Both were wearing bro tanks with the sides cut low, tight shorts, and sneakers. Sehun thought they looked like every cliché of a frat boy he’d ever seen, but as his bleary eyes focused on the gray haired one, he realized they were pretty damn cute.

Sehun realized Yixing was introducing them, and then he was shaking hands with Kris, the frat president, and Chanyeol, his little. Tao, Yixing, and Kris immediately struck up a conversation in Mandarin, practically shouting to be heard over the music.

Taemin and Jongin bolted away and Sehun ran after them, trying to corral them before they broke something and got them all thrown out. All he succeeded in doing was getting lost in the maze of dim hallways. He squeezed past three couples making out and one that was definitely already having sex. He carefully averted his eyes and took another turn down another hallway, finding himself well and truly lost.

“Need some help?” A deep voice said behind him. The gray haired boy was there, sunglasses pushed up onto his head so Sehun could see his warm brown eyes.

“You’re cute.” He blurted before his brain could catch up with his drunk mouth. Chanyeol just laughed.

“Okay drunkie, we need to get you some water. Come on.” He looped his arm through Sehun’s and led him down another set of hallways before producing a set of keys and unlocking the room.

It was fairly large, with a couch and a TV in the front of the room. A curtain hung down the middle, separating what Sehun assumed was the bed from the rest of the living space. Chanyeol sat Sehun on the couch before getting the water pitcher from the mini fridge and pouring water into it.

Sehun had two sips of it and stopped, letting the waves in his stomach settle. Chanyeol, sitting next to him with a bemused smile on his face, was examining him.

“Sehun, right?” He waited as Sehun nodded. “It was hard to hear Xingxing over all that noise. How old are you?”

“Old enough.” Sehun slurred. Chanyeol laughed, a deep low sound that made something curl in Sehun’s gut.

“I figured if you were a university student you were of age. I meant are you a first year, second year?”

“First year. And stop talking, please.” Sehun’s brain couldn’t come up with coherent answers, not when he was so goddamn drunk and Chanyeol’s mouth looked so pretty. He probably looked like a drunk horse getting up on his knees and practically collapsing over Chanyeol, mouth falling on his in a sloppy, open mouthed kiss. Chanyeol let him kiss him for a moment, maybe even kissed him back, before settling Sehun firmly back on the couch.

“You are absolutely fucking wasted, Sehun. Drink some more water. Do you need a bucket?”

“Maybe?” His stomach didn’t feel so good, but maybe that was the rejection and not the rum. Chanyeol’s hand passed over his hair gently and he disappeared for a moment, returning with a bucket just in time for Sehun to hurl his guts up into it. He wasn’t sure how long he was there, clutching the bucket between his knees and heaving while Chanyeol pushed his sweaty hair back from his face.

He was also not sure of when the knocking on the door turned into insistent pounding. Chanyeol left Sehun half bent over the bucket to see who needed to get in so badly.

“Chanyeol, I need your help, Sehun’s-” Tao started, before he caught sight of Sehun. “Oh my God, what did you do to him?”

“I did it to myself.” Sehun croaked. His stomach felt better, but he felt absolutely disgusting. “Chanyeol, mouthwash?”

“I got you. Tao, sit with him and make sure he gets some water in him.” Chanyeol disappeared behind the curtain and returned with a bottle of Listerine. On wobbly legs Sehun made his way to the bathroom at the end of the hall, Tao and Chanyeol trailing him like worried parents. He rinsed out his mouth and did his best not to look at the eyeliner streaming down his face and his red nose. Tao helpfully cleaned his face up, making soft cooing noises as he did. Chanyeol just stayed at the entrance of the bathroom watching.

“I think its time to go, Hunnie.” Tao murmured, supporting his roommate with an arm looped around his waist.

“I agree.” Sehun couldn’t even look Chanyeol in the eye as they slipped past him. Tao made it out of the labyrinth of halls easily, transporting Sehun out to the front lawn of the frat house. Sehun lay down on the grass and tried not to think of how badly he’d embarrassed himself while Tao called them a cab.

Sehun hadn’t realized just how motherly his roommate could be until he was sick. He helped Sehun wash his face and get changed into comfortable clothes, then tucked him into bed with a bottle of water and a trashcan right next to his head. Then he set out some pills for the morning, smoothed Sehun’s hair away from his face, and let him be.

Sehun hoped Chanyeol had been blacked out and wouldn’t remember the kiss. And Sehun hoped he was blacked out and wouldn’t remember that his first kiss had been him drunkenly attacking a frat boy he’d met the hour before.

\--

Getting up for class was the hardest thing Sehun had ever done. His head throbbed, his stomach felt like he’d swallowed the ocean waves and all, and he was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open.

But he’d done it to himself, so he dragged himself into the middle of the jungle to find his classroom and slumped in his seat, head pressed against the cool surface of the desk. Tao had already been gone when he’d left, but Sehun had drank the water and taken the painkillers he’d set out for him. He owed Tao a thank you when he got back to their room.

Sehun was dimly aware of the sound of someone sliding into the desk next to him, and the sound of a pair of high heels on the floor. He assumed it was the professor and lifted his head off the desk, bleary eyes blinking as he tried to locate the professor. There was no one setting up at the lectern yet. Sehun groaned, propping his head up on his hand.

“Oh, Sehun!” A voice next to him said. Sehun reacted slowly to his name, turning his head to his right to see who was talking to him. It was a boy in a ratty old flannel, gray hair tucked under a snapback. His face didn’t register anything in Sehun’s memory for a moment, and then last night came flooding back to him.

“Chanyeol.” Sehun tried not to whimper. God, he recognized him. How fucking embarrassing.

“How are you feeling?” Chanyeol asked, taking in Sehun’s decrepit appearance.

“Like shit. You don’t look any worse for wear.”

“I’m in a frat, we get kind of used to it.” Chanyeol shrugged, then leaned back in his seat. “This is Baekhyun.”

“Nice to meet you.” Baekhyun said, waving slightly from…his? seat. Sehun honestly wasn’t sure. Baekhyun was wearing a full face of makeup, a black crop top that showed off his soft tummy, and a pair of tight jeans. When he stretched his legs out, Sehun could see that he was the one wearing the high heels. They were high heeled boots, but heels none the less.

“Um. Not to be rude, but are you-” Sehun started and Baekhyun laughed.

“A boy or a girl?” Baekhyun leaned over Chanyeol, looking Sehun dead in the eyes. “Why can’t I be both?”

“I just wasn’t sure what to call you. Would be kind of rude if I called you a boy and you weren’t.” Sehun felt this morning steadily declining. God, he needed coffee. Or a bullet in the head.

“Call me a boy, call me a girl, I don’t care.” Baekhyun smiled. “You’ve got good brows.”

“Thanks. My roommate did them for me.” Sehun glanced at Chanyeol, who seemed to be looking at his mouth. Sehun felt a flush creep up the back of his neck. He was saved from further embarrassment by the appearance of the professor, who launched immediately into the background of Bronze Age Greece after going over her syllabus.

Sehun was planning on slinking out of the classroom quietly to go find coffee before his next class, but didn’t get very far. Chanyeol caught him by the wrist, long fingers holding him in place.

“Do you want to go get coffee with us?” Chanyeol asked.

“Oh. Uh, sure.” Sehun figured as long as he kept his mouth shut and focused on the coffee he couldn’t say anything terribly embarrassing. He followed Chanyeol and Baekhyun down the path out of the jungle, taking a sharp right he hadn’t noticed to a small café tucked away in the trees.

He rather liked it there, in the shade of the trees and the sounds of the birds chirping around them. His coffee order took significantly less time than Baekhyun’s, so he settled into a table and started slurping it down.

His seat at the table gave him a perfect view when someone spat at Baekhyun and called him a couple of terrible names that made Sehun’s ears burn. Chanyeol had gone to the bathroom and no one else was coming to help, leaving Sehun to fumble out of his seat to push through the crowd and get to Baekhyun.

He didn’t have to worry, though. By the time he had arrived, a short black haired boy was already there, fists up and ready to brawl it out even as Baekhyun frantically babbled to him about not causing a scene. The person who’d been bothering Baekhyun faded into the crowd just as Sehun reached them.

“Are you okay?” Sehun asked, touching Baekhyun’s shoulder gently. The short boy practically bared his teeth at Sehun at the contact.

“Who are you?” He demanded, turning his fierce glare on Sehun.

“Relax, Dae, he’s a friend.” Baekhyun took a shaky breath, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. “I’m all right. Jongdae, this is Sehun. Sehun, Kim Jongdae, my eternal protector.”

“Nice to meet you.” Jongdae said, visibly relaxing.

“What’s going on?” Chanyeol asked, coming up behind them.

“Some dipshit went after Baek just as I got here.” Jongdae supplied. “He backed off quickly.”

“And he didn’t even have to do a Chen roar.” Baekhyun smiled. “Sehun, go sit down you look like you’re going to fall down.”

“I’ve got him.” Chanyeol wrapped his arm around Sehun’s waist, even though he didn’t really need the support, and guided him back to the table. Sehun sank back into his seat, staring at the white lid of his coffee cup so he didn’t have to look Chanyeol in the eye. There was a moment of silence as Chanyeol took a sip of his coffee and Sehun studiously examined the recycling sign on his lid.

“You tried to help him.” Chanyeol said softly, forcing Sehun to look at him.

“Baekhyun? Of course, I wasn’t going to let someone hurt him.” Sehun figured he was in for a penny, in for a pound, and barreled on. “I had someone to do that for me when I came out. I wasn’t going to leave him alone.”

Jongdae and Baekhyun joined the table, cutting off any further discussion. Jongdae, now that he knew Sehun wasn’t a threat, seemed perfectly amicable, and a little too chipper for Sehun’s hangover’s taste.

“Dae, calm down. He’s got a hangover.” Chanyeol finally said when he saw Sehun wince at the volume Jongdae’s voice had reached. “He came to a party at the frat last night.”

“Baby’s first night out?” Jongdae teased. “It happens to all of us, don’t feel bad.”

“I only feel bad that I threw up in Chanyeol’s room.” Sehun felt the most humiliated about that. If he hadn’t thrown up in front of him, he wouldn’t have felt so bad.

“You were in his room?” Baekhyun raised one pretty eyebrow.

“I found him lost in the halls.” Chanyeol said, even as he stretched out his arm to rest on the back of Sehun’s chair. There seemed to be some kind of silent communication going on between the three of them. Sehun returned to his coffee, not wanting to interrupt.

He enjoyed their company, even though Jongdae was a little loud and Chanyeol kept inching closer and closer. Sehun had just announced he had to go to class when a high heeled boot whizzed past his ankle under the table and Chanyeol yelped. He just glared at Baekhyun before getting up and walking with Sehun towards the door.

Sehun wasn’t an idiot. He knew what was coming, but his brain was just too foggy to know what to do with himself. So he just stood there dumbly while Chanyeol mumbled something about wanting to get to know him better and handed over his cell phone for Sehun to put his number in.

It took a couple tries to get it in right, and then Sehun handed the phone back. Chanyeol immediately called him to give him his number, then released him with a nervous kiss on the cheek. Sehun turned and walked back into the jungle, head spinning a little. He wasn’t exactly sure how vomiting in his room and drunkenly kissing him had worked out in his favor, but he wasn’t going to question it.

\--

Sehun could hear Taemin laughing before he spotted him in the dining commons. Jongin had managed to shove two straws up his nose and was eating noodles with a completely straight face. Two girls sitting at the table with them were laughing also, even as they judged him.

“Jongin, don’t scramble your brains before we get that choreography done.” Sehun said, pulling out the chair next to Taemin. Tao dropped into the other empty seat, between Jongin and the younger girl. Both had long hair, but the older was dark haired, the younger platinum blonde like Jongin.

“Is that all you love me for, Sehun?” Jongin asked, a piece of noodle sticking out of his mouth.

“At this exact moment, yes.” Sehun shook his head, looking away to smile at the two girls. “How did you two get roped into this dinner?”

“I’m their RA, I felt like I needed to supervise.” The darkhaired girl held her hand out for Sehun to shake. “I’m Song Qian.” Sehun swore he could see Tao’s ears perk up.

“I know these two idiots, I just haven’t wanted to be seen with them yet.” The blonde said, gesturing at Jongin’s appearance. “I’m Soojung.”

“I’m Sehun, and this is my roommate Tao.” Sehun knew as soon as the pleasantries were over, Tao would swoop in, so he turned his attention towards Taemin.

As he had guessed, Tao immediately started speaking to Qian in Mandarin. He had been right in guessing that she was Chinese.

“So where are you from?” He asked, scooting his chair a little closer, abandoning the bowl of ramen he had brought to the table.

“Qingdao. You?” Qian was alarmed when Tao immediately teared up, hiding his face in the overlong sleeves of his sweater. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” He said hurriedly, wiping his eyes before anyone else could notice. Just from the few days they’d been living together, he had a feeling if Sehun saw him crying he’d mother him to death. “That’s where I’m from too.”

“Do you miss it?” Qian’s eyes were soft and sympathetic.

“A lot. I’ve been jumping on every Chinese person I’ve met in the last few days.”

“Have you met Yixing yet? He’s Sehun and Jongin’s dance mentor, as Jongin has informed me.”

“Yeah, Sehun introduced us. I was happy to meet him. But you’re from my hometown, it’s different.”

“I know. It’s hard to get used to the separation at first, especially being so far away.” Qian squeezed his shoulder gently. “At least you have Luhan on your floor at all times.”

“I haven’t spoken to him yet. The only time I really saw him was the first day and I was kind of out of it.” And he’d been avoiding their RA like the plague anyway. He didn’t want someone parenting him. He already had enough of that with Sehun and his own parents.

“Well, maybe we can have an exchange student lunch sometime soon. We need to stick together or we’ll get used to speaking Korean.”

“Do you know Kris Wu?”

Qian laughed. “Yes, I know Kris. He’s a good friend. Yixing introduced you?”

“Yeah, Hunnie and I met him…two days ago, I guess. Everything’s kind of blurred.”

“It’s the first week. It’ll get easier, Taozi.” The affectionate nickname made him tear up again and he got up quickly, going for a cup of water and also to collect himself. He missed his parents, missed his dog, missed his home. Sehun had been keeping him company, but he missed China. He really should have called his parents but he thought it would hurt too much to hear their voices and not be with them.

Sehun was watching him when he came back to the table. He had splashed cold water on his face and gotten a drink and was pretending to be perfectly fine, but still Sehun was watching him. Even when he joined in on the banter with Taemin and Jongin.

The group split up after dinner, going back to their respective floors. Tao curled up on his bed, facing away from Sehun in an effort to mime sleep so they wouldn’t have to talk.

It didn’t work. Sehun still hopped off his bed and climbed onto Tao’s, snuggling up against his back. “Are you okay?” He murmured, hooking his chin over Tao’s shoulder.

Tao sighed, letting himself relax into the embrace. “I’m fine. I just…I miss home.”

“You’re a long way away, it’s normal.”

“I know, and I knew I would miss China when I left, but it’s still just so _hard_.” Tao sniffled, willing himself not to full on cry again. “I still think I’m gonna wake up and be at home and see my mom and my dog and they aren’t here and I’m supposed to get an education and have an experience here and I just want to be home.”

“It’ll get easier, Taozi.” That did it. Tao started crying full on and Sehun just held him tightly and handed him tissues from the box on the desk until he managed to catch his breath.

“Did Qian say something to you?” Tao asked finally.

“When you got up so suddenly I thought she’d said something to you, and she explained.” Sehun rubbed his back gently. “Is it bad to call you that?”

“It’s just what my mom calls me. It’s kind of a raw nerve, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it.” Sehun’s phone buzzed between them and Tao jerked.

“I better get that, it’ll keep buzzing if I don’t.” Sehun pulled his phone out and slid the message over so it would stop buzzing.

“Don’t you want to answer it?”

“It’s Chanyeol. He can wait for two minutes.” Also Sehun was trying not to respond within thirty seconds because he didn’t want to look super thirsty. Not that he wasn’t incredibly thirsty for Chanyeol. He just didn’t want to look it.

“Thank you for being here with me.” Tao turned over to face him, snuggling up closer. Sehun had never been one to turn down physical contact or cuddles, so he held his roommate tighter, hoping that he could swallow his own homesickness down. It was hard to see Tao cry about missing home and not miss his own. He might have just been a few hours from home, but it was still the farthest he’d ever been.

Eventually Tao wiggled free to go work on some art project and Sehun returned to his own bed, finally looking at the message Chanyeol had sent. They’d been texting sporadically all day, mostly about the amount of reading their history professor had given them for that weekend.

 _So, do you think you’ll be able to handle a second frat party this weekend?_ Chanyeol had asked. On one hand, vomiting into a trashcan was still fresh in his memory. On the other hand, he was specifically being invited by the hot sophomore he had a crush on.

“Tao….” Sehun said, voice already wheedling.

“Whatever it is, no.” He responded, not looking up from his delicate brush work.

“Can you come with me to the frat again this weekend? I guess they’re having a party.”

“So you can puke again?”

“I’m not going to puke again. I went too hard last time.”

Tao sighed, setting his brush down. “Is it to see Chanyeol?”

“Yes.”

“Am I allowed to go ogle other men once we’re inside?”

“Of course!”

“Fine. I’ll go.”

Sehun cheered and replied to Chanyeol. _I’ll be there._

\--

“No, flick out your wrist more. Here, like this.” Yixing fit himself along Sehun’s back, guiding his arm out in the movement he wanted. Maybe it was because he was already buzzing with nerves about seeing Chanyeol later, but Sehun was already on high alert. He could feel every line of Yixing’s lithe body against his own, working him like a puppet to get the choreography right. “Got it?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it.” Sehun mumbled, face red and hot. Jongin had been watching from the floor, catching his breath while Yixing worked on Sehun’s minor errors. Sehun had already sat through Jongin’s corrections.

“All right, let’s give it one more go and then call it a day.” Yixing wiped the sweat off his forehead and put his cap back on. It was a little warm in the tiny dance practice room, especially since the three of them had been dancing for hours. Sehun pulled the hem of his tank top up, wishing he’d worn shorts like Jongin instead of sweatpants, and wiped the sweat off his face. Just one more run through and they’d be done.

It would have helped if their dance wasn’t so exhausting. Although they all had training in different dance styles, they had decided to stick to hip-hop choreography, and their mix was on addiction. Sehun thought if he did one more body roll his spine might actually snap.

But he took a deep breath, took his position, and let the dance flow. The three of them danced well together, if their reflection in the mirror was any indication on how they looked. Sehun’s long legs, Yixing’s water-like movements, and Jongin’s solidness made them a very interesting dance trio to watch.

Finally, the music stopped and Sehun collapsed where he had been standing, pulling his shirt up over his face. “I’m dead. I’m done.” He groaned through the fabric.

“You two did very well today, you should be proud of yourselves.” Yixing settled onto the ground next to him. “I’m pretty beat too.”

“I don’t even want to talk about it.” Jongin was lying face down by the mirrors. “Can we go home now?”

“How are we going to get there? My legs don’t work anymore.” Sehun didn’t think anything in his body worked anymore.

“I’ll drive you home. My apartment’s not far from here.” Yixing offered. He didn’t expect to be immediately dogpiled by two very sweaty, very grateful freshmen who practically kissed him with joy. And so off they stumbled on weary legs towards Yixing’s apartment building. He had to run upstairs to get his car keys, leaving Jongin and Sehun splayed out on his car hood like a couple of car show girls. Jongin was hamming it up with his meager strength, playing for the girls unloading their groceries a few rows over. Sehun was too tired and too wired to do it.

A window opened over their heads and someone poked their head out. “Yixing! Look what you’ve done to them, they’re practically dead!”

Sehun lolled his head back, squinting against the sun as he tried to look up at the person. Another bleach blond boy, thick, almost fatherly eyebrows furrowed.

“They can’t be that bad.” Another voice said, and another head appeared. Dark haired, open face. Sehun let his eyes drop shut. At least, until Yixing came back with the car keys, a dog, and a boy wearing an eyepatch.

Jongin and Sehun immediately sat up straight, waiting to be introduced. Yixing loaded the dog into the car before turning to the dancers, one hand on the other boy’s shoulder. “Jongin, Sehun, this is Kibum. Key, these are my little trainees.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Kibum shook their hands and gave them both a brilliant smile. “You’ll meet Garçons in a second.”

“Is that your dog’s name?” Jongin asked, scrambling to get into the backseat with the dog, a large chocolate lab. Sehun noticed the service dog vest he was wearing and deflated.

“They told me I had to get a guide dog, they didn’t say I couldn’t give him a good name.” Kibum reached back and gave Garçons an affectionate pat on the head. “And he’s good company when everyone else is gone.”

“If you weren’t such a hermit…” Yixing muttered, starting the car. “I’m going to drop them at home and then we’ll head to the store.”

“How do you still have the energy for that?” Sehun asked, stretching his sore legs the best he could in the backseat.

“You find it somewhere. And more likely than not Kibummie will do the shopping for me and I’ll sit on a bench outside eating ice cream.” Yixing grinned at his passenger, who shook his head.

“Xingxing is our house mother.” Kibum explained. “A man of many talents.”

“And a damn drill sergeant.” Jongin chimed in.

“Well, we’ll have to come see the showcase.” Kibum yelped when Yixing punched him in the shoulder.

“You idiot.” Yixing hissed, hitting him again.

“Yixing, do we have a showcase?” Sehun asked slowly. He could see Yixing wince in the rearview mirror.

“Yes. Professor Park told us not to tell you until the week before. But it’s not really a big deal, I promise!” Yixing tried to do damage control the whole way to the freshmen dorms, but Jongin and Sehun were not soothed. They went their separate ways once inside. Sehun wanted nothing more than a shower and a nap before the party. The shower was easy; Tao was outside talking on the phone and didn’t notice that Sehun had even come in.

As soon as Sehun curled up for his nap, though, Tao was in his bed, practically shaking him awake. Sehun’s sore body protested from the jolting.

“Enough, enough, I’m awake!” Sehun yelled, swatting at his roommate to get him to stop. “What do you want?”

“One of my…friends who’s going to a different university nearby is coming to visit tonight.” Tao blurted.

“Friends like you and I are friends or friends like you’ve seen his dick?”

“Second kind.” Tao had the decency to look a little embarrassed. “Anyway, he wants to hang out tonight and I have a feeling that…things are gonna happen.”

“So I should expect to be sleeping in the hall. Are you bringing him to the party?”

“See, that’s the thing. He doesn’t really like big crowds.”

“Oh. So I’ll go by myself.” Sehun didn’t want to make Tao feel bad about cancelling on their plans, even though he really didn’t want to go by himself.

“Do you think you could stay the night with Chanyeol?”

“I mean, I don’t want to impose on him. We haven’t even been on a date, seems kind of forward.” Sehun sighed, looking at Tao’s hopeful face. “Fine. I’ll do my best to get to spend the night. You can have the room.”

“You’re the best!” He kissed Sehun’s forehead and tucked him back into bed, then scurried off to get back on the phone. Sehun took the blissful silence as an excuse to fall fast asleep.

Tao woke him up for dinner, which he practically had to drag Sehun to. During his nap his legs had locked up. Jongin looked almost as bad, but Taemin was at least carrying him.

“See what a good roommate he is? You should be carrying me for letting you have the room tonight.” Sehun muttered as they walked into the dining hall.

“Are you getting sexiled?” Jongin asked, settling into his seat with a groan. Tao’s cheeks turned pink.

“Sort of.” Sehun decided was the best way to answer.

“You can come up and stay with us so you don’t have to stay in the common room.” Taemin offered. Sehun felt his heart swell a little with affection for him. As much as he called them the twin tornadoes, they’d become fast friends with him and Tao.

“Sehun’s going to stay with Chanyeol.” Tao grinned, happy to have the pressure off him.

Jongin screwed his eyes shut, trying to remember. “The frat boy with the gray hair?”

“Yeah, that’s him.” Sehun sincerely thought about drowning Tao in his ramen, but since he’d gotten a bowl for him too, he decided to be nice.

Dinner was pretty quiet. Jongin and Sehun were exhausted, Tao was focused on his friend coming in, and Taemin gave up on trying holding a conversation. He did force Tao to carry Sehun back to the dorms while he carried Jongin, which Sehun appreciated.

Tao started primping while Sehun lay down for a little while longer, willing his lower body to come back to life before he had to walk to the frat house. They were just barely less sore when he finally had to get up and get dressed.

He figured simplicity was the best choice, especially if he was going to be drinking again. His favorite soft jeans, a longsleeve black t-shirt that fit him well, and a pair of sneakers. Tao approved his outfit and wished him luck, slipping a condom in his back pocket before he left.

Sehun took the solitary walk to get his head on straight. He was just going to hang out with Chanyeol at a party. He could handle himself at a party. All he had to do was not get so fucking drunk while he was there.

When he walked up to the frat house and saw the group of people waiting to get in, he felt his nerves overtake him again. What if the guy at the door didn’t let him in? He didn’t want to chance it and didn’t want to argue with someone twice his size, so he did the smart thing and dialed Chanyeol’s number.

“Hey, are you here?” Chanyeol yelled over the din of the house.

“I’m outside, I wasn’t sure if I could get in without you.” Sehun glanced at the line again and wondered if he could run for it still.

“Stay put, I’ll come out and get you.” Chanyeol hung up abruptly. Sehun settled on the grass to wait, digging his fingers into the grass to steady himself.

“There you are!” Chanyeol called, helping pull Sehun to his feet. Both of them seemed surprised that Chanyeol kissed him on the mouth. It was just a short peck, really, but it was Sehun’s first real kiss. He liked it much better than that sloppy, drunk face-sucking maneuver he’d pulled the last time.

“Hey.” Sehun said a little breathlessly.

“Come on in, there’s some people I want you to meet.” Chanyeol slung a protective arm over his shoulders, leading him through the mess of people and into the house.

This time they went straight through to the backyard, which was much quieter, but still packed with people. Chanyeol led him to a table where two sets of people were playing beer pong. Sehun recognized Kris from the last time, but not his partner. When he turned his attention to the other set, Sehun realized it was Jongdae and a heavily made up Baekhyun wearing a tight black mini dress and heels.

“We’ve got next game.” Chanyeol announced, arm still hanging over Sehun’s shoulder. Kris looked up, spotted Sehun, and grinned.

“Jjong, this is the guy we were telling you about.” Kris said, elbowing his partner. Sehun could have built a house on the other guy’s cheekbones, they were so prominent. He was almost too pretty for a frat boy.

“Ahh, the famous Sehun. I’m Jonghyun. We’ll be introduced properly once I finish kicking their asses.” Jonghyun lined up for his shot and cursed when the ball pinged off the rim of the cups.

“What was that, Jonghyun?” Baekhyun said sweetly.   

“Shut up, princess.” Jonghyun stuck his tongue out at Baekhyun. It was comfortable and easy to stay curled into Chanyeol’s side, watching the two teams banter back and forth as they played the game. Jonghyun and Kris ended up winning, leaving Jongdae and Baekhyun to shotgun beers. They had just pulled the beers out of the thirty rack under the table when Jongdae paused, a sly grin crossing his face.

“Sehunnie?” He cooed, advancing towards him. Chanyeol’s arm tightened around him ever so slightly.

“Yes?” Sehun didn’t like the look in Jongdae’s eyes, or the way Baekhyun was already hiding his face behind his hand.

“Have you ever shotgunned a beer?” Jongdae held up the can for emphasis.

“No.” Sehun really didn’t feel like doing it either, but maybe the quick consumption would help him relax a little bit more.

“Dae.” Chanyeol’s voice was warning, even as Sehun reached out to take the beer. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

“First time for everything, right?” Sehun shrugged and took the beer, shoving the key into it like Jongdae showed him. Chanyeol sighed and grabbed a beer for himself. Kris and Jonghyun happily counted them down and in unison, they all opened their cans.

Sehun had always thought the term “shotgunning” meant something about how fast you drank it. He didn’t think it meant that the beer sprayed into his mouth with the force of a shotgun. Some of the beer went up his nose but he managed to get it down without drowning in it. Jongdae clapped him on the back when he was done, jostling all the carbonation out of his nose.

“So, you two still want next game?” Kris asked, tossing one of the ping-pong balls in the air.

“Of course!” Chanyeol took the first shot, which made Sehun slightly less nervous. He wasn’t terrible at the game but he still didn’t feel like he really stood up to the three frat boys. It didn’t help that Baekhyun was over in the corner with someone cackling at the top of his lungs and distracting Sehun. Or that Jongdae was heckling from the side of the table, his arm wrapped around the waist of a pretty girl with short blue hair. Something about the blue hair clicked through his memory through the haze of alcohol.

“Hey, you’re a dance mentor, right?” Sehun asked while Chanyeol took his shot. The girl turned, Jongdae turning slightly with her.

“Yeah. Are you in the dance program?” She was Taemin’s dance mentor, but Sehun couldn’t remember her name.

“Yeah, I’m one of Yixing’s kids.” Sehun looked away to line up a shot. The ball spun around the rim of the cup before landing inside. Jonghyun swore and plucked the ball out to drink the beer.

“I’m Sunyoung. And I guess you already know my other half?” She gestured at Jongdae, who was looking at her like she was the sun and the stars and the moon all rolled together.

“Of course. Everyone that Channie likes we all have to meet.” Jongdae grinned, his smile growing wider when Chanyeol glared at him.

“And I have class with Baekhyun.” Sehun reminded Jongdae.

“Minor details.” Jongdae flapped his hand.

It was a close game, but Chanyeol and Sehun ended up losing as well. Rather than let Sehun shotgun another beer, Chanyeol handed it off to Jongdae, who downed it easily. Sehun was almost put out by it until he remembered he’d thrown up in Chanyeol’s room the last time. He kept his mouth shut instead and let Chanyeol maneuver him over to a different corner of the yard where there were a few people clustered together having a discussion.

“Hey, can I cut in here?” Chanyeol said, putting his hands on two of the boys’ shoulders. “Sehun, this is Junmyeon, Kyungsoo, and Amber. Guys, this is Sehun.”

Sehun felt a little bit like he was being paraded around, but he also recognized that he was being let into Chanyeol’s life. It was just a little sudden for him. “Hey, how’s it going?” He said, practically shrinking back into Chanyeol’s side.

“How old are you?” Junmyeon asked, peering at Sehun worriedly.

“19.” Sehun lifted his chin defensively.

“Jesus, Junnie, did you think I was hanging out with a minor?” Chanyeol shook his head. “He’s of age. Relax.”

“Sorry.” Junmyeon did physically relax. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Sehun glanced at Amber and blinked slowly. “I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

“I’m hard to forget.” She gestured at her tattoos and short hair.

“I’ve had a little bit to drink so I’m having trouble here.” Sehun felt warm and fuzzy, his mind a little hazy. He really needed a better alcohol tolerance.

“If you’re a computer engineering student you might have seen me in class. Otherwise I don’t know.” She shrugged and Sehun shook his head.

“Nah. I’ll think of it.” Sehun glanced up at Chanyeol, who was looking at him fondly. Suddenly Sehun wanted to be doing anything other than be meeting his friends. He definitely wanted to be in Chanyeol’s bed.

But that didn’t seem to be happening. They hung out with Junmyeon and Kyungsoo and Amber for a while, watching the beer pong game from afar. Kris and Jonghyun finally got knocked out of the game and came to join them. Sehun already knew that Kris would tower over him, but he didn’t think Jonghyun, who was a couple inches shorter than himself, would be so physically imposing. It was probably the broad shoulders and the muscles hanging out of the low-cut sides of his tank top. He got a very intense bro-handshake from Jonghyun and a smile from Kris. As the night progressed, Sehun wasn’t sure if Amber and Kris were dating, or if they were just best friends. Kris hugged her for most of the night and kept lifting her up and moving her around. Sehun felt dizzy just watching them.

Finally, finally, Chanyeol leaned down and whispered, “Do you want to go to my room?” Sehun nearly kicked him in the shins in his hurry to escape from the circle. Now that he wasn’t as drunk, Sehun saw that the hallways weren’t that confusing, just a little long. Chanyeol unlocked his door and poked his head in, as if he was listening for something.

“Good, coast is clear.” He said, pulling Sehun in after him.

“Someone else lives here?” Sehun asked, ducking behind the curtain. Sure enough, there were two beds.

“Yeah, but my roommate has a girlfriend who lives alone so he spends most nights with her. Leaves the room free for me.” Chanyeol’s teeth shone white in the dim light. Sehun felt a little in over his head. “Although, it wouldn’t be a problem if he was here.” He gestured at what looked like a bunk bed with a sheet over it. “Welcome to my little cave.”

It turned out to be something like a slab of wood on very tall legs, tall enough that Chanyeol could sit up comfortably underneath it. His mattress was on the floor, covered in squishy pillows and a soft blanket. It felt like settling into a cloud, even as Chanyeol rolled on top of him.

“It’s a nice cave.” Sehun could hear how breathy his voice had gotten and he flushed red. Chanyeol just smiled, propping his weight on one hand so he could brush his thumb across Sehun’s mouth.

“You’re okay with this?”

“With you being on top of me? Very much so.”

“Good. Just wanted to check.” With that out of the way, Chanyeol leaned down and kissed him. It was gentle and soft at first, then deepened when Sehun moved up against him. Sehun let his mouth open for Chanyeol’s tongue, trying to wrap his fuzzy brain around the situation. He was a freshmen in college, in a frat boy’s bed on the first weekend of the school year. This was his first makeout.

Chanyeol moved away from his mouth, peppering kisses over his jaw and then down his neck. “Why were we outside all this time?” Sehun asked, whining when Chanyeol sucked hard on the soft skin.

“I didn’t want you to think,” he dove in hungrily for another kiss, “that all I wanted you for was this.”

“Fuck.” Sehun wiggled up against Chanyeol’s body, very cognizant that both of them were getting hard. Would he want to have sex that night? Sehun was pretty sure he’d be a bottom, but considering he’d never put anything in his ass and the weight of Chanyeol’s dick against his thigh, that seemed like a scary prospect.

“God, I want you so bad.” Chanyeol whined into his ear, head dropped off to the side to let them both cool off. Sehun wanted to scream he wanted Chanyeol so badly and it was a kind of want he’d never experienced before. Maybe this was why everyone at his high school had been in such a hurry to lose their virginities.

“I want you too.” It was honest but it still sounded corny.

Chanyeol rolled over, pulling Sehun on top of him to straddle his lap. “Sehun, I need you to answer me honestly. Have you ever had sex with a boy before?”

Sehun really wanted to lie, but he also did not want it to hurt. “No.”

He sighed. “That’s what I thought.” He leaned up and kissed Sehun, one large palm cradling his face. “Hunnie, I want to have sex with you, but not tonight, okay? I think we need to build up to that.”

“You’re the nicest frat boy I’ve ever met.”

He laughed. “How many of us do you know?”

“Not many, to be honest. But you’re not the stereotype, definitely.”

“Thank you.” He pulled Sehun down to lie flat on his chest, cuddling him in close. “Do you want to spend the night?”

“I, uh, was kind of supposed to ask you if I could. My roommate has someone coming over for the night.”

“Mm, sexiled. Well, you’re very welcome to stay.”

“As long as I can take my clothes off. It’s fucking hot under here.” Chanyeol laughed and let him sit up to strip down to his boxers. He was planning on lying next to him on the mattress but Chanyeol pulled him back to sit on his lap, pushing the curtain back with his other hand. It let some light, letting Chanyeol see him. He was pale gold all over, his hands braced against Chanyeol’s chest letting his arm muscles show through a little. His stomach was toned and flat, his thighs on either side of Chanyeol’s hips well-muscled. Chanyeol twitched a little underneath him.

“You’re beautiful.” Chanyeol murmured, running his hand down Sehun’s side.

“I’m a dancer,” was all Sehun could think to say.

“You’ll have to dance for me sometime.” Chanyeol let him slide off onto the mattress and wiggled out of his own clothes. Sehun settled for feeling rather than seeing, running his long fingers down Chanyeol’s stomach.

They cuddled for a while, then Chanyeol seemed to give up his restraint and kissed Sehun again. Sehun had never thought making out was such physical work, or maybe it was all Chanyeol. He rolled them over and then back again, lifted Sehun straight up into his lap, pulled him flat against his chest. But he kissed like he would never kiss anyone again, and Sehun definitely liked that.

They fell asleep when the music outside finally stopped. Sehun was curled into Chanyeol’s side, head pillowed on his chest. Chanyeol had his arm wrapped around his waist, large hand dangerously close to the swell of Sehun’s ass.

Sehun woke up flat on his back with what felt like a tree branch laying across his chest. He grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his fists, and realized it was Chanyeol’s arm. He was adorable asleep, gray hair fluffing everywhere and his mouth hanging open a little. Sehun admired him for a moment before he realized just how uncomfortable it was to have his arm on his chest. He tried to move it carefully to avoid waking him up, but Chanyeol stirred and opened his eyes.

“Hey.” Chanyeol said, his voice rough from sleep.

“Hey.” Sehun rolled onto his side, bundling himself into the sheets. Chanyeol closed his eyes again, one arm looping over Sehun’s back to pull him in closer. “You know, I didn’t think you’d be so cuddly.” Chanyeol laughed, the deep bass rumble of it shaking the mattress.

“I don’t usually have someone in my bed that I need to cuddle.” The hand on his back snuck down and squeezed his ass. “I can’t believe what you did to me.”

“What did I do?” Sehun didn’t think he’d been that drunk the night before.

“You got this ass right up against me and started _grinding_. I thought I was going to die.” Chanyeol squeezed once more and let go. “Are you telling me you were asleep during that?”

“I guess so. I don’t think I was that wasted last night that I would have done it without remembering.”

“Mm. Well, thanks for giving me some great mental images to tide me over.”

“Until when?” It took a minute for Sehun to figure it out. “ _Oh_.”

“You’re cute.” Chanyeol snuffled into Sehun’s hair. “Unfortunately I’m hungry and that means I have to get up soon.”

“What time is it?” Sehun fumbled for his phone where it had landed with his jeans the night before. Ten a.m, and a text from Tao telling him it was safe to come back to the room. “I guess I’m not sexiled anymore.”

“That’s always good.” Chanyeol sat up and stretched; Sehun tried not to visibly pant at the way the muscles of his back moved. “Do you want to go get breakfast?”

It wasn’t until they were already at the diner that Sehun finally had to come out and say it. “I feel like a fish out of water.”

“Why?” Chanyeol asked, looking up from his coffee cup.

“I don’t know. I guess I don’t know what to expect from you.”

“Well.” Chanyeol leaned back against the plastic seat, soft eyes focused on Sehun’s face. “This is a date. I’d like to take you on more dates. I’d also like to find out what you sound like when you cum. Does that tell you anything?”

Sehun choked on the sip of water he’d taken. “Okay. Very direct. I can roll with that.”

“Good. Then we’ll be fine.” Chanyeol returned to eating his breakfast. Sehun was so horribly turned on that it took him a minute to recover his appetite. Once they got back into a flow of talking, Sehun was able to relax.

That kept up until they were walking out of the diner and a voice called Chanyeol’s name from down the street. Chanyeol swiveled towards the sound and waved.

“Minho!” He waved; Sehun’s eyes tracked the movement of his muscled arm. Then Minho arrived, and Sehun felt like the ugliest little freshman on the planet. Minho was tall and beautiful, with the body and face of a model. Sehun felt himself hunch in on himself just a little.

“Channie, what’s up?” Minho hugged him; Sehun wished he could disappear into the pavement.

“Nothing, just came to grab some breakfast.” Chanyeol snagged Sehun by the shoulder and pulled him up next to him. “Have you met Sehun? He’s one of Yixing’s dance kids.”

“Oh yeah! He practically killed you guys yesterday at practice, didn’t he?” Minho’s face finally made its way up from the depths of Sehun’s memories. He’d been hanging out the window with another guy the day before.

“Yeah, he’s a drill sergeant.” Sehun snorted. “Kibum also let it slip that we have a dance showcase coming up.”

“Key never could keep his mouth shut.” Minho sighed dramatically.

“You’ll have to text me when that showcase is, I don’t want to miss it.” Chanyeol said to Sehun. It bolstered his flagging ego just a bit.

Minho’s sharp eyes darted between the two of them, Sehun’s rumpled clothes, and then the hickey just sticking out of Sehun’s shirt. “Well, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone. I came to pick up something for Jinki.” As he was walking away, he called back over his shoulder, “Be safe, kids!”

“I love him, but sometimes I’d like to strangle him.” Chanyeol muttered, wrapping an arm around Sehun’s shoulders and leading him towards where they’d left his car.

“He’s _too_ pretty.” Sehun grumbled.

“I know. Whenever I go out with him and Jinki and Kibum I feel like a toe.”

“Chanyeol, you are smoking hot.”

“Ahh, see, you can be direct too.” Chanyeol dropped a kiss into his hair. Sehun felt like he’d been caught up in one of those whirlwind romances that you only ever saw in movies. Chanyeol dropped him off at home with a kiss; Sehun practically floated up to the room.

Tao was lying on his absolutely destroyed bed, his bare chest covered in hickies and one arm thrown over his eyes. “Holy shit,” Sehun said, taking in the room. He’d helpfully opened the window so it didn’t absolutely stink in the room, but the whole place was wrecked. “Are you alive?”

“Barely.” Tao groaned, moving his arm off his face. “I forgot how energetic he was.”

“It looks like a bomb went off in here.”

“I feel like a bomb went off in me.” With some difficulty, Tao rolled over to look at Sehun. “What about you? Did you get it in?”

“No.” Sehun flushed a little. “I’ve never had sex with a boy.”

“That’ll do it. Was he nice about it?”

“He said something about working up to it.” Sehun lay down on his own bed. “I’m out of my depth.”

“Why?”

“He’s this hot ass sophomore with hot ass friends and I’m the little freshman. And it seems like he likes me and I don’t know why he would like me when he has model hot friends and-” Sehun was building up steam towards a rant.

“Hunnie. You just said you think he likes you. Don’t stress about it.” Tao sat up. “I need to shower. As soon as I find my legs.”

“I should shower too.” They toddled off to the showers (Tao was limping) and spent most of the day lazing around together. Tao was asleep when Sehun went to dinner, but he was joined by Taemin and Jongin.

“So how was the party last night?” Jongin asked, struggling to pick up some of his food with his chopsticks.

“It was fun. I met some more of their friends.” Sehun watched as Jongin swore and finally stabbed the offending food with the chopstick. “And I didn’t have to sleep in the dorm hallway, so that was nice.”

“So you did sleep with Chanyeol.” Taemin waggled his eyebrows.

“No, I didn’t. I mean, I did, but not the way you’re thinking. Get your mind out of the gutter.” Sehun ducked his head. “Your dance mentor was there too. She’s dating one of Chanyeol’s friends.”

“What a small world.” Taemin flicked a grain of rice at Jongin, which started an all-out battle with rice grains until Sehun finally started pelting them with napkins.

Sehun was glad for the relative quiet of his room; Tao was at his desk sketching, leaving Sehun to do his nightly stretches and relax. If this was a microcosm of what his college life would be like, he was pretty happy.

\--

“Jongin, hold still or I swear to God I will stab you in the eyeball.” Tao threatened, brandishing the eyeliner pencil.

“I am holding still! I just don’t like having someone putting a pencil in my eye.” Jongin whined.

Tao muttered something under his breath in Mandarin to Yixing, who just laughed. “It takes some getting used to.” Yixing said. “Sehun, stop jiggling your leg you’re going to get a cramp.”

“I’m nervous.” Sehun wrapped his hands around his knees to hold his legs still. “I’ve never performed for a crowd this big.”

“We’re going to be fine. We’ve practiced, we’ve nailed it, and we’re going to nail it again.” Yixing’s voice was so soothing Sehun almost believed it. But he’d also peeked outside and seen the crowd and that made it difficult to be calm.

“There. All done.” Tao finished smudging the liner around Jongin’s eyes. “You’re all ready to go.” He’d helpfully done all of their makeup. Sehun figured if they fucked up at the very least they’d all look pretty.

“Thanks, Taozi.” Yixing smiled at him affectionately. “Kris should be outside already with a seat saved for you.”

Tao was eternally grateful to Yixing for taking him under his wing, and introducing him to the other Chinese students. It made him ache for China just a little less. And he didn’t have to sit alone at the showcase; almost all of his friends were performing.

He slipped out of the backstage area and went into the theater, searching for Kris’s sandy blond head. It was right next to Chanyeol’s fluffy gray. They were sitting in a row with a lot of other people, some Tao recognized from going to the frat house with Sehun. There was an empty seat between Kris and a dark haired boy. When he turned his head towards Tao, the younger boy saw he was wearing an eyepatch.

Then he nearly tripped over the chocolate lab at his feet. Tao managed to catch himself on the armrest of the seat the boy was sitting in, his earrings jangling nearly in the boy’s face.

“Sorry.” Tao mumbled, straightening up.

“It’s all right. Garçons is hard to see in the dark sometime.” The boy said. He was devastatingly pretty, Tao noted as he sat next to him. Those cheekbones alone were killer. The eyepatch was a little offputting but he pulled it off.

“Tao, this is Kibum. Key, Zitao. He’s one of Yixing’s kids.” Kris said over Tao’s head.

“Obviously not one of his dancing kids. You’re Chinese?” Kibum asked.

“Yeah. Sehun is my roommate, so he introduced us.”

“Ah, the famous Sehun. I haven’t met him yet but Chanyeol has talked my ear off about him.” Kibum snickered and it made his face look a little less intimidating.

“Aw, Key, don’t spill all the dude’s secrets.” Kris laughed, ruffling Chanyeol’s hair. “He can’t help being a softie.”

“Hey, leave my hair alone.” Chanyeol swatted Kris’s hands away. “Do you know what Baekhyun will do to me if I mess this up?” Tao didn’t find out because the lights started to go down.

Taemin’s group went three or four performances in. Sunyoung had covered Taemin and the other girl in red glitter, their fast spins and leaps making the glitter catch the light. Tao was fascinated watching them, to see how Taemin could rein in his energy and direct it into something beautiful.

Yixing’s group went after intermission. Chanyeol sat up straighter in his seat when he saw them onstage. Sehun and Jongin were crouched at Yixing’s feet in the dim blue light. The spotlights came up, the two freshman rose, and off they went.

Chanyeol watched raptly as Sehun spun across the stage, his body rippling like a wave. He’d known Sehun was beautiful, had seen a few clips of him dancing in high school, but there was something in seeing him with his own eyes. He thought his eyes might explode with the amount of body rolls Yixing had put in their routine.

A few seats down, Tao was holding his breath tensely, counting their turns. He and Sehun had been out on the lawn until midnight the night before, practicing the jump that was coming. Sehun had wanted to be able to do it in slick grass to make sure he could do it perfectly on stage. The jump was coming right after the breakdown. The three dancers popped and rolled through the breakdown, and then they would do the spinning jump.

Sehun took a deep breath, bent his knees, and jumped. The three of them executed the flip perfectly in unison, landing and dropping into their final pose. The crowd went wild. Tao let out his breath and relaxed into his seat.

“You’re more nervous than they are.” Kibum said, leaning over the armrest.

“Sehun really wanted to get that flip right.” Tao murmured back. Garçons leaned against his leg; Tao reached down and rubbed his ears absently. The rest of the performances went by in a blur, and then Tao was swept up in the crowd moving outside.

Yixing, Jongin, and Sehun were outside goofing off, riding high on the adrenaline from the performance. It only got worse when Taemin joined them and made them teach him how to do the flip. Taemin had just landed on his ass when the group reached them. Soojung swooped down on the boys to hug them and congratulate them.

Chanyeol picked Sehun up like he weighed no more than a feather and kissed him. Sehun flailed in surprise for a second before grabbing Chanyeol’s shoulders and kissing him back. They were catcalled obnoxiously by the rest of the group.

Baekhyun, in spike heels, carefully picked his way across the grass to Yixing, a bouquet in his arms. “Amazing as always, babe.” Baekhyun gave him a kiss that left burgundy lipstick smeared across Yixing’s mouth.

“You guys are dating?” Sehun asked, still clinging to Chanyeol’s chest.

“Dude, they’re practically engaged.” Jongdae snorted, one arm wrapped tightly around Sunyoung’s slender waist. She too was holding a bouquet; Chanyeol made a face.

“I should have gotten you flowers.” He mumbled, digging his face in Sehun’s shoulder.

“I don’t even own a vase, Channie.” Sehun laughed and slid down his body to stand on his feet again. Taemin and Jongin were wrestling in the grass, getting black eyeliner and red glitter all over each other. Luhan emerged from the crowd, holding hands with a smaller boy who looked like a cat and a faerie all at once.

“Great job, Sehun.” Luhan clapped him on the back. “Have you met Minseok yet?”

“I’ve seen you on the floor before.” Sehun had a sneaking suspicion that everyone he knew was gay. “It’s nice to meet you properly.”

“Amber and I are always over at Luhan’s because he lives alone.” Minseok giggled and he looked so cute Sehun wanted to squish his cheeks.

“That’s where I’d seen Amber before! I knew I wasn’t crazy.” Sehun finally remembered that she was always going in and out of Luhan’s room.

“Yeah, Amb and I do computer programming together at Luhan’s because we can actually work.” Minseok stretched and Sehun watched the swell of a bicep emerge. Chanyeol’s were nicer but damn, for a person with a face like a woodland creature those arms were _nice_.

Sehun’s attention wandered away from whatever Chanyeol and Luhan were talking about as he searched the crowd for Tao. Those bird’s nest swoops of blond were easy to pick out; Sehun was almost surprised to see him with Kibum. Just seeing the two of them together, sharp features and intense eyes, Sehun wanted to find out if Kibum was gay. They would just make the most aesthetically pleasing couple.

Sehun glanced up at Chanyeol. Other than him and Chanyeol.

“Everybody, back to my place!” Yixing yelled, one arm wrapped around Baekhyun’s bare waist to help hold him up. A cheer rose up from the crowd and people started dispersing.

“Hey, Yeol, I’m going to take Sunyoung home to change really quick. You need a ride?” Jongdae asked.

“Nah, I’m good. Hunnie?” Chanyeol looked down at Sehun.

“I should probably wipe this off.” Sehun gestured at the eyeliner Tao had put on him.

“Nah, leave it on. It looks good on you.” Chanyeol assured him.

“Okay. Guess we’ll just go straight to Yixing’s, then.” Sehun looked for Tao again, finding him kneeling in the grass by Garçons.

“Tao, you coming?” Sehun asked when he approached. Tao looked up and for a second it looked like Tao didn’t even know who he was.

“Where?” Tao straightened up. Kibum laughed behind him.

“To my apartment, Tao. Yixing is having an afterparty.” Kibum filled in.

“Oh. Then yeah.” Tao dusted his knees off. “Are we walking?”

“I prefer to be driven around. The privilege of the blind. I’ll see you there.” Kibum patted Tao’s shoulder and followed Yixing, Baekhyun, and two other boys that from the back Sehun guessed were Jinki and Minho.

“Who else is coming tonight?” Luhan asked Kris as the group set off.

“I know Kyungsoo has to work, so he probably won’t come until later. Junmyeon should be getting off soon. Jonghyun said he’d try to stop by but I think there’s some beer die thing going on at the frat so he probably won’t make it.” Kris paused. “Am I missing anyone?”

“Qian. She’s got desk duty tonight.” Luhan grimaced. “Better her than me.”

“You love RAing, shut up.” Minseok punched him lightly.

“Yeah, I just hate desk duty.” Luhan shrugged. “I’ll survive.”

 “So all that practice on that flip paid off.” Tao nudged Sehun with his shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”

“Considering I made you sit out in the cold and watch me nearly break my neck on the grass, I should be thanking you.” Sehun was glad Chanyeol was holding him up, because the adrenaline was starting to bleed out of his body and his legs were going to give out at any moment.

Thankfully it wasn’t far from the theater to Yixing’s apartment. The low thump of bass was audible from the parking lot. Yixing was dancing in the living room with Baekhyun, spinning Baekhyun away from him so his skirt flared up. Minho and Jinki were mixing something in a large punch bowl; Sehun figured that was that “jungle juice” he’d been warned about when he went through orientation.

“Ahh, there’s my little dancer boy!” Baekhyun crowed, catching Sehun’s face between his hands and peppering his face with kisses.

“Agh! Baekhyun!” Sehun swiped at his cheek and grimaced when his fingers came away stained. “It’s like getting kissed by my grandmother.”

“Your grandmother doesn’t have legs like these.” Baekhyun displayed one shiny, long leg.

“Do you wax?” Sehun asked in surprise.

“I wax _everything_.” The emphasis on the last word made Sehun want to rip his eyeballs out of his head.

“Enough scarring him, let’s get you wiped up.” Chanyeol led Sehun into the kitchen where he cleaned his face off with a paper towel.

“Thanks.” Sehun kissed Chanyeol lightly on the lips. “Couldn’t walk around looking like a bloody mess all night.”

“No, that would kind of put a damper on the evening.” Chanyeol pulled him into a deeper kiss, only to get whacked with a wooden spoon.

“Not in my kitchen,” Jinki warned, brandishing the spoon like a sword. “You’ll make my vodka curdle.”

“Fine, fine.” Chanyeol hauled Sehun back out to the living room.

The party quickly got crowded and rowdier, especially when Taemin and Jongin brought Soojung in. She immediately took to Baekhyun and it became a battle to see who could dance more provocatively. Yixing looked like he was enjoying the show, and oddly, so was Jongin.

“See? I was right.” Tao said, gesturing at Jongin. “They’re just BFFs.”

“I guess.” Sehun shrugged. He took another sip of what was in his cup, which mostly tasted like mango juice but he was sure Chanyeol had poured a healthy amount of vodka in it. Over in the corner, Jongdae and Sunyoung were grinding. And then there was Junmyeon, furiously making out with Minho.

“They’ve been dating for like, three years.” Chanyeol said when Sehun looked confused. “They try to keep it pretty quiet outside our group, just because Junmyeon is in campus government and stuff.”

“Makes sense.” Sehun was right; basically everyone he knew was gay.

The night went on, the group got drunker, and Sehun saw right up Baekhyun’s skirt to the pink silk panties he was wearing. He started pawing at Chanyeol just to give him something to distract himself from what he’d just seen.

“Come home with me?” Chanyeol whispered in Sehun’s ear around midnight. Sehun blinked slowly, the alcohol slowing him down, then nodded.

“Let me check on Tao.” He hadn’t seen his roommate in a while, but he found him with Jinki and Kibum, Garçons’ head in his lap.

“Hey, I’m going to go back to the house with Chanyeol. Will you be okay?” Sehun asked.

“Yeah, I’ll go home with Taemin and Jongin and Soojung.” Tao’s grin turned wicked. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

“That’s a short list, Taozi.” Sehun laughed and started making his rounds to say his goodbyes. Amber and Kris, snuggled up on the couch, tagged along back to the frat house.

“So, uh,” Sehun started, watching the two of them. “Are you guys dating?”

“Gee, what gave you that idea?” Amber asked, lifting their clasped hands and kissing Kris’s knuckles.

“I’m still learning, don’t be mean to me.” Sehun whined. Amber whined right back at him. Kris just watched fondly.

“Why are we dating idiots?” He asked Chanyeol.

“They’re cute?” Chanyeol cuddled Sehun into his side. Kris looked down at Amber appraisingly.

“Yeah, I guess she’s pretty cute.” Kris yelped when Amber punched him.

“True love.” Sehun snorted. They made it back to the frat house, where whatever drinking game tournament was still going strong, and went to their separate rooms.

“It got way too hot under here the last time.” Chanyeol said, flipping his curtain over the top of his bed. “I don’t want to die of heatstroke.”

“But I’ll still be under you.” Sehun cracked lamely. Chanyeol laughed, thankfully.

“That’s very true.” He pulled Sehun down into his lap. “I thought I was going to explode watching you do all those body rolls with Xing.”

“I thought my spine was going to crack.”

“Well, I’m glad neither of those things happened.” He kissed Sehun. “So. I was thinking that maybe we could try something tonight.”

“Okay.” Chanyeol had been carefully keeping them at heavy makeouts, not wanting to push Sehun too far. Sehun appreciated it, but also felt like they wouldn’t get anywhere if he didn’t get pushed.

“I’m your first everything, right?”

“Yes.” Sehun was glad it was dark so Chanyeol couldn’t see how red he’d gotten. He didn’t like looking so inexperienced in front of Chanyeol, who’d probably slept with loads of people and had all sorts of cool tricks.

“I’d like to give you your first blowjob.”

Sehun tried not to make a choking sound. “Um. Okay. That sounds good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m sure.” He paused, one hand tracing Chanyeol’s collarbone through his shirt. “Um. Can I give you one first?”

“I’d rather take care of you first but if you want to do it this way, I’m certainly not going to say no to a blowjob.”

Sehun was glad that Tao was his best friend and that he’d shared some tips. And that porn existed, so he could at least see some of the concepts in action. He still was a little unsure as he helped strip Chanyeol out of his clothes and took his dick in his hands for the first time. It was different than holding his own and the angle was a little weird. He gave it a couple experimental pumps, trying out his own favorite maneuver as he swiveled back under the head. The choked little sound that Chanyeol made gave him the confidence to lower his head and give it a tentative lick.

“Salty.” He commented, running his tongue over the tip, lapping up a bit of precome that had leaked out.

“Oh god, please don’t do that.” Chanyeol’s thigh tensed under Sehun’s hand.

“Is that bad?”

“It’s good, it’s good. Just too good for right now.”

Sehun inspected the dick in his hand. It appeared to be fully hard, and he doubted very much that he was going to get all of it in his mouth. But he was going to make a damn valiant effort.

Sehun could feel the head scraping against his back teeth on the first few bobs and pulled off in frustration. “I can’t get the angle right.”

“You’re doing fine, Hunnie.” Chanyeol soothed, and Sehun hoped he wasn’t imagining the breathiness in his voice. Sehun shuffled forward on his knees a little and tried again. This time, the head slid straight back without any teeth.

Chanyeol helped coach him through it with gentle instructions, and then gave him a warning when he was close. Sehun had about ten seconds to make a decision, and decided tonight was not the night to attempt swallowing. So he used his hand to finish Chanyeol off onto his stomach. The older boy lay back on his pillow, breathing hard.

“How’d I do?” Sehun asked, his voice a little scratchy.

“Wonderful.” Chanyeol wheezed. He looked down his body at the puddle of cum on his abs. “Can you grab me a tissue?” Sehun found the box and came to wipe him up. Curiosity got the best of him and he dragged one fingertip through the puddle, bringing it up to his mouth to take an experimental lick. Chanyeol looked a little fucked up.

“Doesn’t taste like much.” Sehun commented as he wiped his stomach clean.

“Let’s get you out of those pants.” Chanyeol practically had to peel the pants off him; Sehun hadn’t changed after their performance and he was still wearing the skintight ripped jeans Yixing had selected for the showcase. He felt much better once he’d been released, and even better when Chanyeol started touching him.

While Sehun had just dove straight in, Chanyeol took the time to work him up, biting at his collarbones and playing with his nipples, sucking hickies into the crease of his hip. By the time he actually got his mouth around Sehun, the younger boy was shaking and whimpering.

Of course, it didn’t last very long. Chanyeol knew what he was doing and Sehun had never felt anything like it before, all hot wet suction and tongue tricks and _Jesus Christ_ the eye contact. And Chanyeol swallowed, which made Sehun’s eyes cross.

“How was that?” Chanyeol asked triumphantly, flopping down to lie next to Sehun.

“I think you may have pulled my soul out of the tip of my dick.” Sehun panted out.

“Good.” Chanyeol kissed him on the mouth. “So you’ve now given and received your first blowjob.”

“I feel like I should get a certificate.”

Chanyeol howled with laughter. “I’ll have Minseok make one for you.”

“Ungh. Don’t say another man’s name in bed.” Sehun rolled over limply and buried his face in the crook of Chanyeol’s shoulder. “So, at what point do you start trying to stick things in my ass?”

“When you’re ready to. I think we should hold off on that for a while. Bottoming for the first time can be little scary.”

“You are definitely not the boy they warned us about at orientation, that was going to pressure us for sex and roofie us.”

“Of course not, I’m not an animal.” Chanyeol kissed the top of his head. “We should clean up.”

“That means I have to stand.”

“Yes, and put your boxers on.”

Sehun grumbled the whole way out of the room, then catcalled Chanyeol while they were in the bathroom. One of the other frat boys was outside waiting when they emerged. Sehun knew exactly how they looked and immediately went bright red. Chanyeol just fist bumped the guy and led Sehun back to the room.

Sehun belly flopped onto the mattress, sinking into it happily. “God, your mattress is so much nicer than mine.”

“You’re welcome to sleep here whenever you want.” Chanyeol traced the line of Sehun’s spine with one finger. “I’m getting rather fond of you, you know.”

“You mean it?” Sehun smiled into the pillow.

“Yeah. You’re adorable.” Chanyeol kissed his shoulder blades. “You wanna sleep now, Hunnie?”

“Mhm.” Sehun rolled his head to the side, looking at Chanyeol through half-closed eyes. “Sleep. Drunk.”

“Okay.” Chanyeol laughed and rolled them under the covers. His hands snuck down under his boxers to knead at Sehun’s bare ass; Sehun could swear he was almost purring.

\--

Sehun came back from showering to find Tao already in his Halloween costume, carefully painting his face.

“Whoa, you look incredible.” Sehun said, setting down his shower caddy. “You did all this while I was showering?”

“I’m pretty quick when I want to be.” Tao stood up and showed off his beautifully embroidered jacket and loose pants. All the Chinese kids had agreed to wear traditional Chinese clothes for Halloween. Tao had sharpened his cheekbones and eyes. He looked almost feral, the contrast with the high Mandarin collar striking.

“Are you trying to impress anyone?” Sehun wheedled as he went to towel off his hair. In the mirror he could see Tao’s careful poker face slip.

“…Maybe?” Tao said softly. He pulled himself up onto Sehun’s bed, arms wrapped around his knees. “I mean, I don’t know if he’s even coming tonight or if he even swings this way.”

“Kibum?”

“Fuck, am I that obvious?”

“No. I just watch. And I want to set you guys up.” Sehun and Tao were regular fixtures at Yixing’s apartment, and Kibum was usually working at his desk in the corner when they were there. He always abandoned whatever he was doing to come hang out.

“He’s a third year though. Do you really think he’d be interested in me?”

“You never know, Taozi. We’ll have to see how it goes.” Sehun finished drying off and grabbed the onesie he was wearing off its hanger.

“Are you actually wearing a fucking onesie for Halloween?”

“A lot of us are wearing onesies.” Sehun found a clean tank top to put on underneath it and zipped himself into his wolf onesie. “I know Yeol and I are, and I think Jongdae and Sunyoung are doing couples dinosaur onesies.”

“Lame.”

“Hey, some of us wanted to be comfortable.” Sehun checked his phone where it had buzzed. The weather had been misty and cold lately and Chanyeol was coming to pick them up soon. “Do you have everything?”

“Yeah, I’m good to go.” Tao collected his keys and phone and they headed out with what felt like the entirety of their building, in various states of undress and drunkenness.

“Hey, Taozi!” Luhan had found some giant black wig that he’d styled in a traditional Chinese way. Minseok, at his side, was wearing a cat onesie.

“Onesies twins!” Minseok high-fived Sehun. He looked even smaller than normal in the oversized onesie; he had to pull the hood back to look at Luhan.

“Are you planning on walking over?” Luhan asked.

“Chanyeol’s coming to get us.” Sehun answered.

“Oh cool. I’m driving Qian and Minnie over, so I had some extra space if you guys needed it.” Luhan checked his phone. “I don’t know what’s taking her so long.”

“Hey, she’s wearing a full on gown. Give the girl a break.” Minseok reminded him. When Qian finally appeared, all of them were taken aback. Her hair was in a complicated style, her makeup was perfect, and she looked beautiful in the gown.

“Wow, Qian.” Sehun couldn’t come up with any other words. “You look great.”

“Thank you.” She smiled brilliantly. “We ready to go?”

“Yeah, we should have everyone. See you guys there!” Luhan waved as he led their group away. Chanyeol pulled up a couple minutes later, the hood of his tiger onesie visible through the window of his car.

Sehun slid into the passenger seat and leaned over to give his _boyfriend_ a kiss. They’d only been dating for about a month and they’d sealed the deal that they were serious. Tao was making a soft, happy face in the rearview mirror as he got into the backseat.

“Do Jongin and Taemin need a ride?” Chanyeol asked as he turned the car back on.

“Soojung took them to some party at her sorority, they’ll be over later.” Tao supplied. “Besides, you know the twin tornadoes. The elements don’t bother them.”

“Good, two less bodies I need to be responsible for.” Chanyeol made his way through the university slowly, watching for anyone running through the road. From there it was a quick shot to the frat house, where the music was thumping and the lawn was crowded with people. Chanyeol parked his car in the back and they went in through the back door. The backyard was filled with people, with several different drinking games going on. Kris was easy to spot just because of his height and the traditional costume he was wearing. Next to him, Jonghyun was dressed as Naruto in a surprisingly accurate costume.

Baekhyun was dressed like a flapper and doing a little shimmy that made his fringed dress move beautifully for Yixing, who was snapping pictures. Just behind him were Minho and Jinki, dressed as Michael Meyers in _Halloween_ and Freddy Krueger, respectively. And then there was Kibum, looking dangerous in all black with his eyepatch and a blue contact lens. Sehun thought maybe he looked like a Bond villain.

As soon as Yixing saw Chanyeol and Sehun, he made them take a bunch of cute couple pictures. The best of the bunch was definitely the one that Chanyeol had pulled him in for a kiss. Sunyoung and Jongdae were a close second to their adorableness in the dinosaur onesies.

“You’re so cuddly like this,” Chanyeol commented as Sehun cracked open beers for them. He had pressed himself up against Sehun’s back, arms wrapped around his slim waist.

“Cuddlier than usual?” Sehun handed him his beer and took a sip of his own. He could never get used to the taste of beer. It was just gross. But he’d learned his lesson with the hard liquor and he didn’t want to throw up in Chanyeol’s room again.

“I mean, with that fat ass you’re always cuddly.” Chanyeol smacked him on the ass for good measure, making Sehun yelp.

“Can you two keep it together for like, five minutes?” Tao muttered. He was clinging close to Sehun, but his eyes were glued to Kibum.

“We’ll keep it together if you go talk to him and stop staring at him like a creeper.” Sehun shot back.

“Fine. I will.” Tao downed the shot of whatever he’d been holding and marched off to Kibum.

“Is Key gay?” Sehun asked Chanyeol belatedly.

“Kibum?” Chanyeol chewed his lip. “I don’t really know, honestly. I haven’t heard about him dating anybody or even hooking up. And I’ve never asked.”

“Well, we might find out soon.” Sehun took him by the hand and led him off towards Junmyeon and Kyungsoo. Junmyeon was in a bunny onesie, while Kyungsoo had dressed as the Penguin from Batman.

It was amazing to Sehun how easily he’d fit into Chanyeol’s life. All of his friends had been so welcoming, even though he was just a freshman. And they’d taken in the other freshman kids as well. Sehun was eternally grateful to Yixing and Kris for looking after Tao so well, and for giving Jongin and Taemin an outlet for their energy.

When the twin tornadoes and Soojung showed up an hour later, Jongin was wearing more of Soojung’s lipstick than she was. Taemin looked vaguely uncomfortable as he made his way through the crowd to Sehun and Tao, who had rejoined him after chickening out of talking to Kibum.

“How’s it going?” Sehun asked, careful to not get any of Taemin’s vampire makeup on his onesie when he hugged him.

“They were drinking some godawful concoction at Soojung’s sorority and I think Jongin had a lot.” Taemin glanced back over his shoulder. “I’ve been third wheeling the whole way back.”

“Welcome to my world, dude.” Tao snorted. Chanyeol had gotten caught up in a flip cup tournament with his frat brothers; otherwise Tao would have been third wheeling Sehun and Chanyeol.

“You can stick with me for the night. We’re trying to get Kibum and Tao together.” Sehun knew Taemin had a devious mind, and if anyone could make it happen it would be him. He didn’t seem exactly in the mood for it that night, though.

“Just go talk to him, I guess. He’s nice.” Taemin mumbled. “I’m going to get a drink.” He vanished into the crowd, leaving Sehun frowning after him.

“Do you think he’s okay?” Sehun asked Tao.

“Soojung is splitting him and Jongin up. They’ve been friends since they were babies and he’s never had to share.” Tao pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Sehun was still worried, although he lost the train of thought when Jongdae grabbed him and Tao to play a game of beer pong. Sunyoung was a better beer pong player than any of the boys; Jongdae didn’t score a single point the entire game, even though his team won. As punishment, per house rules, he had to strip naked and run to the park and back. Sunyoung cackled the whole time; Baekhyun took sneaky pictures for blackmail.

Sehun leaned against Baekhyun, inhaling the smell of the warm, vanilla perfume he wore. “Baek, you feel so soft.” Sehun rubbed his face against Baekhyun’s smooth shoulder.

“Sweet little Sehunnie.” Baekhyun cooed, petting Sehun’s hair. “You okay? Are you too drunk?”

“I’m okay. I hate beer.” Sehun made a face and Baekhyun laughed, long and loud.

“I hate beer too. Come on, let’s find Xing.” He led Sehun inside the house, holding his hand so they wouldn’t get separated in the crowd. He stopped at one of the doors on the first floor, banging hard to be heard over the music.

The door opened a crack, two bloodshot eyes visible, and then opened all the way. Jonghyun looked high as hell. He let them in, shutting the door firmly behind them. Luhan and Minseok were lying on the floor in a pile, Luhan’s wig askew. Yixing was sitting on the couch, carefully packing a bowl with his long, slender fingers.

“Why is it that you always show up just in time for a fresh bowl?” Yixing chuckled, handing off the bong and bowl so Baekhyun could cuddle into his lap.

“I’m just gifted, that’s all. But Hunnie should try some when it’s fresh.”

“Oh. You brought me here to smoke.” Sehun hadn’t put the pieces together. Maybe he was a little drunker than he thought.

“Do you want to try it?” Yixing usually looked sleepy, but now he looked like he was barely keeping his eyes open.

“I mean…yeah.” Sehun had been thinking about trying weed for a while. Someone was almost always smoking at the frat house and he’d come to associate the smell with Chanyeol’s room and comfort.

“Chanyeol’s not going to kick my ass for letting his boyfriend get high, right?” Jonghyun asked.

“I don’t think so. Yeol knows Xing and I wouldn’t let him get hurt.” Baekhyun twisted in Yixing’s lap, taking the bong back. “Do you want to take a hit, or do you want me to shotgun it for you?”

“Um.” He looked at the bong, about the length of his forearm and made of thickly walled glass. “I don’t know how to take a hit.”

“Watch me do it, and then I’ll shotgun for you.” Baekhyun caught the lighter that Jonghyun tossed him with his free hand. He lit the bowl and pressed his mouth to the top of the bong, pulling hard. Sehun watched as the long stem filled with thick smoke. Baekhyun pulled the bowl out and sucked the smoke up into his lungs in one swift motion. He waved Sehun closer, wrapping his free hand around the back of Sehun’s neck.

“Open your mouth, Hunnie.” Yixing instructed, just before Baekhyun leaned forward and kissed him. Sehun felt Baekhyun exhaling into his mouth and breathed in instinctively. The smoke stung his lungs and he coughed a lot of it back out into Baekhyun’s face, but he just giggled.

“There we go. We should wait before you take another hit though, I don’t want you to die.” Baekhyun passed the bong to Yixing, then to Jonghyun. Minseok and Luhan were both pretty high and left the room shortly afterwards. By the time the bong came back to him, Sehun was starting to feel warm and heavy. It was kind of like a pleasant tiredness.

“Do you want another hit?” Baekhyun asked. Sehun blinked slowly, thinking it over.

“Nah, think I’m good. I should probably find Chanyeol.” Sehun stood up, feeling his legs wobble just a little underneath him. Yixing and Baekhyun stayed on the couch and Sehun headed back out into the crowd, feeling like a buoy buffeted around in the waves. It seemed to take forever before he was back out in the yard. He found Junmyeon first, talking with Minho by the keg. Sehun approached slowly, not wanting to interrupt, but Minho spotted him and waved him over.

“Hey, have you seen Chanyeol?” Sehun asked. His mouth felt like it was filled with spit.

“He’s over with Kris and Amber I think.” Minho looked over the crowd and pointed towards Kris’s blonde head.

“Thanks.” Sehun had to stop and spit in a bush on the way. He couldn’t figure out why he was salivating so much.

“There you are. I was looking for you.” Chanyeol said when he felt Sehun slip under his arm. “Whoa, did Baekhyun get you?”

“Huh?” Sehun let Chanyeol wipe his thumb across his mouth, showing him the pink lipstick that had been smeared on his lips. “Oh. Baekhyun shotgunned me.”

“You smoked weed?”

“He and Yixing offered. I didn’t take a hit on my own.” Sehun melted into Chanyeol’s side, feeling the warmth soaking his limbs. “I feel funny.”

“He’s high as shit.” Kris cackled. “Good luck, Yeol.”

“Fuck off, Yifan.” Sehun’s tongue was thick and he completely mangled the pronunciation of Kris’s real name. He leaned over and spat in the bushes. “Why am I drooling?”

“It’s the weed. It happens sometimes.” Chanyeol kept him close, letting him lean up against his solid chest. Sehun had almost started to doze off when a hand shook his shoulder.

“Hey, Taemin’s fucked up, I’m gonna take him home.” Tao said. Sehun shifted slightly to the right and saw Taemin sitting at Kibum’s feet, looking belligerently drunk.

“You’ll never get him back to the dorm without getting a minor in possession.” Chanyeol pointed out. “It’s too far away, and I’ve been drinking. Is Lu able to drive?”

“He’s high too.” Sehun mumbled.

“Shit. What do we do with him?” Tao raked one hand through his hair. “He’s too fucked up to get in a cab, they won’t take us. Can he stay here?”

“I don’t wanna!” Taemin yelled from behind them. Tao turned around and glared at him.

“For fuck’s sake, Taemin.” Tao huffed. “Would you rather get arrested?”

“Why don’t we take him to my place? It’s closer, and it’s quiet.” Kibum offered.

“Are you sure?” Tao looked down at red-faced, sloppy Taemin, and then back at Kibum.

“He can sleep it off on the couch.” Kibum bent his knees to get closer to Taemin. “Do you want to go to my place, Taemin? It’ll be quiet there.” Taemin nodded and allowed Tao to haul him up to his feet.

“Do you need help?” Sehun asked.

“I think we’ve got it.” Kibum said, looping one arm around Taemin’s thin waist. “Besides, your eyes are so bloodshot red people might think they’re stop signs.” Sehun scowled; Tao cackled.

“You really do look high as fuck.” Chanyeol murmured when they turned back to the conversation. “Do you want to go lie down?”

“Maybe? If you’re under me.” Sehun winked a little too slowly. Chanyeol just chuckled fondly and kissed the top of his head.

“Hey, we’re gonna head in for the night. See you in the morning.” Chanyeol carefully guided Sehun back through the crowd, keeping him from getting distracted by the strobe lights on the dance floor. The older boy had to help Sehun out of his onesie; the zipper had defeated his thick fingers.

“Ugh. I don’t think I like this.” Sehun flopped onto his back on Chanyeol’s mattress. Chanyeol’s hands were a little cool from being outside and they felt good rubbing soothing circles onto Sehun’s stomach.

“You’ll sleep it off. It’ll be okay.” Chanyeol reassured him. “You tried it, you didn’t like it.”

“I feel like a corpse.” Sehun was whining, but he didn’t particularly care. Chanyeol just tucked him into the sheets and brought him a bottle of water from the fridge. “You’re such a good boyfriend.”

“I try.” Chanyeol pressed a kiss to Sehun’s tummy; it tickled and he flexed his abs in response. “I always forget how built you are.”

“Why?”

“Because to me, you’re my soft Sehun. And you have the fattest ass I’ve ever seen.”

If Sehun had had the energy, he would have swatted him. Instead, he fell asleep.

\--

Getting Taemin back to Kibum’s apartment was like trying to go down an up escalator. They’d get a few steps before Taemin would nearly fall over and they’d have to stop and readjust. Tao wished he had made Jongin take him home instead. But there he was, being the responsible friend. He hated responsibility.

Finally, finally, they made it up the stairs to the apartment, where they dumped Taemin unceremoniously on the couch. Tao found a trash can and came back to see Kibum shoving Taemin’s arms through the straps of a backpack.

“What’s that for?” He asked, putting the trashcan down next to the couch.

“Just in case he throws up in his sleep. I don’t want him rolling over onto his back and choking to death.” Kibum knelt at Taemin’s head, gently smoothing his hair back. “You okay, Taemin?” There was a soft gurgle in response. “We’re going to leave water and a trash can here for you. If you need me, call me, okay?” By now, Garçons  had come out of the bedroom and was inspecting the scene, before resting his head against Kibum’s knee.

“Good boy.” Kibum murmured, stroking the lab’s ears.

“I guess I’ll head back to the dorm.” Tao said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. He hadn’t thought this was how he’d finally get Kibum alone and this seemed like the least romantic way to do it.

“Tao, it’s freezing outside. Besides, the cops will be stopping people now. You can stay here too.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you’ve already got one freshman here.”

“Taozi. Friends don’t let friends get minor in possessions. Now come on. Yixing’s got makeup wipes and I have some pajamas that should fit you.”

So there Tao was, wiping his makeup off, in Kibum’s bathroom, wearing a pair of flannel pants so worn they practically felt like velvet. Tao wished he had an excuse to go shirtless; years of wushu and dancing had given him a body he was proud of, and he wanted to show it off. Unfortunately, it was pretty cold in the apartment and he had to wear the sweatshirt Kibum had lent him.

“So, what’s XO She Knows?” Tao asked when he walked back into Kibum’s bedroom. In fuzzy socks, a soft old shirt, and sweats, Kibum looked so adorable that Tao just wanted to squeeze him. The eyepatch barely even registered anymore.

“It’s a singing group. Baekhyun, Jongdae, Lu, Qian, and Jinki started it up. All the singing majors, you know?” Kibum pulled his knees up to his chest. “I’m doing music production, so I produce their songs.”

“That’s really cool. I’d love to hear some of it.”

“Maybe in the morning.” Kibum looked up at Tao, the blue contact gone, and a surprising amount of vulnerability in his face. “I’m expecting everyone home tonight, so you’re going to have to share a bed.”

“That’s fine. I’d rather not freeze to death.” Tao was surprised that sentence had come out clearly. He’d nearly choked on his tongue saying that. Was he really going to get to share a bed with Kibum?

“One last thing. Um…” Kibum took a breath. “I don’t sleep with the eyepatch on.”

“And?”

“And I don’t like showing that to new people.” The sharp edge of pain in Kibum’s voice broke Tao’s heart.

“I’m not going to stare. It’s okay.” Tao sat on the edge of the bed slowly. “If you don’t mind my asking…”

“How did I lose my eye?”

“Yeah.”

“The short story is I woke up with an eye infection and I went blind in 36 hours. If they didn’t take my eye, they think it would have spread to my brain.” Kibum shrugged. “I’ve learned to deal with it. I lost it when I was sixteen, so I’ve had a long time to adjust to the stares. But what’s underneath…I don’t show that to everyone.”

“It’s okay, Key.”

“Brace yourself, okay?” Tao nodded, and Kibum pulled the eyepatch off. Tao was glad he had such a good poker face. He’d been expecting to see an empty socket, or maybe the eyelids sewn together. But there was still something there, some part of the eye that was left behind. So he kept his face carefully neutral, and then did something risky. He reached out and touched Kibum’s cheek with just the tips of his fingers. Kibum turned his face just slightly to rest in Tao’s palm.

“We should get some sleep. Taemin’s going to need a lot of nursing in the morning.” Kibum whispered.

“Okay.” Tao waited while Kibum turned off the light and got comfortable in the bed before he clambered in. Two full-grown men didn’t quite fit in the bed with space between them. Tao was sure they’d overheat sometime during the night. He let his hand dangle over the edge of the bed, and Garçons licked it.

Maybe he had a shot with Kibum. That had taken a lot of trust in him to get him to show him his eye. Maybe there was a future for them. _Maybe, maybe, maybe,_ he chanted as he drifted off to sleep.

Tao woke up sweating, in a supremely uncomfortable position. He opened his eyes groggily, blinking them clear to see just what had turned his spine into a pretzel. Kibum was spooning him, and Garçons  had climbed on the bed at some point, taking up the majority of the space at Tao’s feet.

“Ugh,” Tao groaned, valiantly trying to stretch his legs out without kicking the dog. He heard a stifled giggle to his right and glared in that direction. Jinki, still half-buried in his blankets, was laughing at him.

“Uncomfortable?” Jinki whispered.

“Terribly.” Tao huffed, not wanting to disturb Kibum, but he was sweating horribly. Unfortunately, by moving Kibum’s arm from around his waist, he removed the only thing holding him in the bed. He crashed onto the wooden floor with a yelp, and Jinki burst into full on cackles. Tao was too busy trying to determine if he’d broken his tailbone to flip him off.

“Are you hurt?” Kibum asked, his head appearing over the edge of the bed.

“Just my dignity.” Tao heaved himself upright. “Ow.” It was weird seeing Kibum’s eye in the daylight, especially now that he was sober, but he knew better than to stare.

“I’m just surprised Key was big spoon. He’s usually such a brat about being little spoon.” Jinki volunteered. Kibum whipped a pillow at him, hitting him square in the face.

“I need coffee.” Kibum declared, slipping his eyepatch on and striding out into the living room. Tao stared after him, then looked at Garçons.

“You’re my favorite.” He said, petting the dog’s ears. Then he followed Kibum out.

Taemin was sitting at the kitchen table, a half-empty bottle of Gatorade in front of him. Yixing was trying to coax him into eating some dry toast unsuccessfully.

“How are you feeling?” Tao asked, taking the other chair.

“Like death.” Taemin muttered through his fingers. “What did I drink?”

“As far as I can tell? Everything.” Tao shook his head. “You were a mess.”

“I feel like a mess still.” Taemin checked his phone. “And I see Jongin didn’t text me.” Tao didn’t think it would be productive at all to give him a talk about sharing, so he kept his mouth shut and accepted the cup of coffee Kibum offered him. It was a quiet morning in the apartment, out of respect for Taemin’s head. Jinki still teased Tao mercilessly about his ungraceful exit from bed. Tao would have fought him if he had the energy.

“Thanks for taking care of us last night,” Tao murmured to Kibum while Yixing went to find his car keys. He’d offered to drive the two freshmen back to their dorm so they didn’t have to make the horribly bright and cold walk back.

“What are upperclassmen for if not taking care of their idiot freshmen?” Kibum smiled with more affection than Tao had ever seen, and it made his hopeful heart flip a little. _Maybe, maybe, maybe_. “I’ll see you sometime this week probably. And I’ll send you the files for XO She Knows.”

“Don’t share all our secrets Kibum!” Jinki squawked indignantly. Taemin visibly winced.

“He’s not going to sell your songs, relax.” Kibum hugged Tao goodbye, just waved at Taemin, and disappeared back into his room.

Tao spent most of the ride back to the dorm in a dream-like state, imagining what it might be like to date Kibum. Yixing took charge of taking Taemin all the way to his room, leaving Tao to go back to his room on his own. Sehun hadn’t been home yet, he guessed. It would be nice to get some more sleep without being crammed into the bed with Kibum and the dog.

As he was drifting off, he remembered he’d left his costume at Kibum’s apartment and he was still wearing the borrowed clothes. _Borrowed, never to be returned_ , he thought.

\--

“Is this the kind of thing people do in daylight?” Sehun asked worriedly, even as Chanyeol’s hands rubbed soothingly on his exposed hipbones.

“If you don’t want to do this now, we won’t.” Chanyeol had said it maybe ten times, and Sehun still hadn’t backed down, even though he was worried.

“I just…” Sehun finally gave up his protestations. “What if I shit all over you?”

“Okay. You’re too nervous for this right now.” Chanyeol carefully tugged Sehun’s boxers back up over him. “We’ll do this another time, babe. Don’t worry.”

“I’m worried about when we do actually try it though, Yeol.”

“We’ve already done the prep for today. You’re cleaned out. If anything happens, well…shit happens.” Chanyeol cackled at his own joke. “If something happens, we clean it up. You’ll still be my adored boyfriend. Hell, you threw up in my room the first night we met.”

“Please don’t remind me.” Sehun buried his face in Chanyeol’s shoulder in embarrassment. “I think that’s what it is. And I don’t want it to hurt.”

“I’ve done this before, so I will be careful when we do try it. But today is not that day, angel. You’re scared, and you’re not ready for it.” Chanyeol peppered his face with kisses. “I think I have a better idea, anyway.”

Sehun perked up immediately. “Blowjob?”

“No, you goofball. Isn’t there a pool at your dorm?”

“Yeah, but won’t it be freezing?”

“I think Lu told me that pool was heated. We can go swimming.” That actually sounded pretty good to Sehun.

“Let’s do that.” Sehun rolled out of bed and found his onesie while Chanyeol found his swim trunks and a sweatshirt. Within ten minutes, they were out of the house and in Chanyeol’s car, headed for the dorm.

Tao was passed out on top of his covers in clothes that didn’t look like his; Sehun guessed he’d spent the night at Yixing’s apartment and hoped they were Kibum’s clothes. He tiptoed back out to Chanyeol in his trunks, a towel slung over his shoulder.

True to Luhan’s word, the pool was heated, and it felt really good, kind of like swimming around in a big bathtub. Sehun had rolled over to float on his back, stretched out like a contented cat when he noticed Chanyeol staring at him.

“Fuck, you’re hot.” Chanyeol muttered.

“Wow. That was beautiful. Just, poetry.” Sehun giggled at Chanyeol’s pouty face before flipping over to do a handstand. He should have expected the sharp slap on the ass Chanyeol gave him.

“Don’t present your assets to me and expect me to not touch them.” Chanyeol said when Sehun resurfaced.

“In that case…” Sehun backed Chanyeol into the side of the pool before he realized what was happening. Once he had cornered him, Sehun reached up and bit a fading hickey on Chanyeol’s collarbone, earning a low moan. He slid one slim thigh between Chanyeol’s and ground it up against him, feeling him starting to harden against him.

“You are an _insufferable_ tease.” Chanyeol moaned. “Why are you doing this to me in a public pool?”

“You presented your assets to me. Was I supposed to not touch them?” Sehun asked innocently.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t. You adore me.” Sehun reached down and cupped his half-hard dick. “Your dick definitely does.”

“Sehun, let go of me.” Chanyeol’s tone and the way he was looking over Sehun’s shoulder made him do it immediately. Sehun braved a glance behind him and saw the approaching RA.

“Time to go.” Sehun led the charge up into the building, leaving a trail of wet footprints and desperate giggles behind them. They had made it to Sehun’s floor when he realized that he’d fully intended to continue what they were doing, and that Tao was probably still asleep.

“Shit.” Sehun frowned. “We’d have to go all the way back to your place.”

“Actually, we don’t.” Chanyeol towed Sehun down the hall towards the bathroom. “What, don’t look so surprised. I lived in a dorm last year. You’d be amazed at what you can get done in a dorm shower.”

Sehun didn’t really want to think about Chanyeol with someone else, let alone banging in the dorm shower. He had to double back for his shower caddy; by the time he came back in, Chanyeol was already running the water to heat it up.

“I think it’ll be warm enough now.” Chanyeol said, hooking his fingers in the edge of his swim trunks.

“It’ll get hot as soon as we’re in there together.” Sehun still felt a little inadequate next to Chanyeol. The older boy was built beautifully, all broad shoulders and long lines and Sehun felt like a gnome in comparison. Chanyeol seemed to know without him saying what was bothering him, and crowded him into the shower.

“You’re so beautiful, Sehun.” He murmured, skimming his fingers down the line of Sehun’s spine. “I can’t believe you’re mine.”

“I can’t believe you’re _mine_.” Sehun buried his face in Chanyeol’s chest, yet another reminder that his boyfriend was way more built than he was. Chanyeol’s hands rubbed down the length of his back before collecting handfuls of Sehun’s ass and squeezing. He adored his dancer boyfriend, thought he was as much a piece of art as anything he performed.

Sharing wet, warm kisses under the shower spray was enough to distract Sehun from their physical differences, and to just focus on Chanyeol and the intimacy of showering with someone else. Chanyeol washed his hair for him, his long fingers working on Sehun’s scalp nearly making him purr in happiness.

They took turns washing each other’s hair and helping wash the chlorine off their skin. But as soon as they got anywhere near their pelvises, it quickly turned into Chanyeol half-pinning Sehun against the clammy shower wall and grinding up against him so deliciously he wanted to cry.

Just as a particularly loud moan had started to bubble up his throat, the shower right next to theirs turned on. Chanyeol clamped one large hand over Sehun’s mouth, the other skimming down between their bodies to grasp both of their cocks.

Whatever curse Sehun had let out was muffled by Chanyeol’s hand, as was every grunt, groan, and plea that fell from his lips afterwards. If it weren’t for his hand, Sehun would have screamed out loud already. The friction was almost _too_ good, enough that tears had started to leak out of the corners of Sehun’s eyes by the time he felt his orgasm building to a fever pitch. Chanyeol kissed the tears away, leaned in, and in a purposefully deep timbre murmured, “come for me.” And how could Sehun deny him that? His body slammed back against the shower wall, trembling through his climax. Chanyeol followed not long behind, painting Sehun’s lower belly with streaks of white. And as if nothing had happened, he pulled the younger boy back under the spray and gently washed him clean.

They had just left their shower when their neighbor did; Sehun ignored the sharp look the other guy gave them, tugging Chanyeol down the hall towards his room. What was that guy going to do anyway, report him to Luhan? According to some gossip he’d heard from the rest of the group, Luhan and Minseok were prone to fucking in very conspicuous places, including those dorm showers.

Tao was awake and sitting at the desk with his laptop when they came into the room. He glanced over them, the flush of Sehun’s cheeks and chest, the hickey on Chanyeol’s collarbone, and just sighed.

“I don’t want to know.” Tao said, turning back to his laptop. Chanyeol had brought extra clothes along, which he pulled on while Sehun wandered up behind his roommate.

“How’s Taemin?” He asked, leaning over Tao’s shoulder and leaving spots of water on his shirt.

“Hungover as hell. And bitter about Jongin. We’ll see how they make it through this.” Tao shrugged. “We both spent the night at Kibum’s apartment.”

“And?”

Tao glanced over his shoulder at Chanyeol, toweling off his gray hair. Chanyeol probably knew already, if not from Tao being obvious then from Sehun telling him. “I shared the bed with Kibum.”

“That’s great!”

“Yeah, he was spooning me when I woke up. And he um, he showed me his eye.”

“I’m guessing you mean the one that’s usually under the patch.”

“Whoa, Key showed you his eye?” Chanyeol broke in, lifting himself to sit on Sehun’s bed. Sehun had to make himself not visibly salivate at the way his muscles worked.

“I mean, he kind of had to. We were sharing a bed and he doesn’t sleep with the patch on.” Tao didn’t want to read too much into it, even as he desperately wanted to.

“He’ll keep it on if he doesn’t feel comfortable enough. That’s a big deal for him to show you.” Chanyeol, like Sehun, wanted to see Kibum and Tao get together. There was something about their shared creative intensity that Chanyeol could see working perfectly for them. It was all just a matter of feeling Kibum out.

“Well, he hugged me this morning before I left, and he just sent me the files for XO She Knows.” Tao clicked on the link to start downloading the songs.

“For what now?” Sehun remembered he was still in his towel and went to put on boxers and sweatpants.

“It’s a singing group. Qian, Lu, and Jinki started it, and when Baekhyun and Jongdae joined the singing major, they got added to it. They perform at bars and coffee shops every now and then.” Chanyeol filled in. “I know Key has been working on getting the production just right because they want to put out a CD on campus.”

“That would be really cool.” Sehun curled into his boyfriend’s side as Tao cued up the tracks. They sang everything from hip-hop to rock to ballads. Qian took the lead on one ballad that made Sehun and Tao cry a little.

“Wait, who is that rapping?” Sehun interrupted when a new voice joined on one of the hip-hop tracks. “That’s not any of the boys.”

Tao rewound the song and played the section again. “No, that sounds like-”

“That’s _Kibum_.” Chanyeol whooped and clapped his hands. “Shit, I didn’t know Key could rap!”

“God, could he get any hotter?” Tao moaned through his hands.

“Don’t put that out in the universe, it might come back to bite you in the ass.” Sehun warned. Tao mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “I want him to bite me in the ass,” but it was covered by Jongdae’s high note.

“We have got to get you guys together.” Sehun said when they’d finished listening to the songs Kibum had sent.

“How? There’s only so much time we can spend with Yixing, they’ve got stuff to do.” Tao was already pouting at the thought of not being able to see Kibum again soon.

“I know I’ll be spending time with Yixing because we have solo performances coming up soon.” Sehun flopped onto his back on the bed, scheming different ways to get Tao involved.

“What about the winter festival?” Chanyeol suggested. Both freshmen turned to look at him inquisitively. “There’s a festival every year, right before Christmas. It’s kind of a local thing. I know we’re all planning on going as a group, but you can stick with Kibum.”

“That could work.” Tao leaned back in his chair, looking thoughtful. “You two might actually be decent wingmen.”

\--

“How long have we been here?” Sehun asked, stirring a packet of sugar into what had to have been his fourth cup of coffee.

Chanyeol checked the time on his laptop. “Approximately eight hours.”

“Ugh.” Sehun dropped his head onto his textbook. Thin fingers stroked his hair, long nails scratching his scalp gently. “Thanks, Baek.”

“Drink your coffee. It’ll help.” Baekhyun pulled Sehun upright by his hood and handed him the coffee cup.

“Do I have to?” Sehun whined. “Is this even what a midterm exam is supposed to be like?”

“Kind of, yeah.” Chanyeol took off his glasses and cleaned them on the edge of the flannel shirt that Sehun was planning on stealing. “But we’re almost done with the study guide. All we have to do is the document analysis section, right?”

“And then can we go home?” Sehun took a sip of coffee and hated himself for what he was doing to his body. He was never going to sleep again.

“We can go after the document analysis.” Chanyeol had a very soothing voice sometimes. It had been useful for talking Sehun down once midterm season had started. He still had to figure out his solo performance, his dance history professor had just assigned a six page paper, and he had a chem quiz at the end of the week. He just wanted to be done with midterms.

The prospect of getting to go home and sleep was enough motivation to get Sehun to contribute to the group. They talked through the different documents they’d been assigned, wrote out a little description of each, and then called it a night. Baekhyun was going to Yixing’s apartment for a while, leaving Chanyeol and Sehun to walk home together.

“I can’t wait for midterms to be done.” Sehun groaned, leaning heavily on Chanyeol.

“I know. It’ll be better when everything is done.” He looped his arm around the younger boy’s waist, half-supporting him. “And the festival is right after our midterm, so we can go and celebrate.”

“If I live that long.” Sehun whined. “I think all this coffee has shortened my lifespan.”

“If it hasn’t killed Minseok and Luhan yet, I think you’ll be fine.” Sehun nearly fell asleep on his shoulder in the elevator up to his room, but he perked up as soon as they got back to the empty room.

“He must be studying somewhere.” Sehun tried to put a little note of surprise into his voice, but he wasn’t sure how well it worked exactly.

“So we have the room to ourselves?”

“Looks like it.” Sehun ducked his head, feeling suddenly shy. “Um. I kind of have a surprise for you.”

“Oh really?” Chanyeol sat upright, opening his knees so Sehun could come stand closer to him. “And what is that surprise exactly?”

“You’ll have to undress me and find out.”

“Well with an invitation like that, how could I refuse?” Chanyeol stripped him methodically, noting the way his boxer briefs hugged the curve of his ass. “What am I looking for here?”

“More like feeling for.” Sehun had never felt more awkward in his life than he did taking Chanyeol’s hand and guiding it into the cleft of his cheeks, brushing against his hole. Chanyeol’s eyebrows disappeared under his hair as he probed gently.

“Did you do it on your own?” He asked.

“I was talking to Tao about it and he gave me some pointers. Before I met up with you and Baek I’d been practicing a little.”

“And how it did it feel?”

“A little weird. I think I’ll like it better when it’s you.” Sehun shuffled away towards his desk, digging out the fresh bottle of lube Tao had bought for him. “If you’re tired we don’t have to do anything-”

“Sehun, you just presented me your ass. Do you think I’m not going to take the opportunity?” Chanyeol hauled him up onto the bed, splayed halfway across his lap. “I’ll go easy, my fingers are a little thicker I think.”

“I trust you.” And he did; after practicing a few times on his own, he felt much better about the whole thing. Tao had been a surprisingly good coach on how to clean himself up and finger himself without it hurting. In Chanyeol’s experienced hands, he wasn’t nervous, just excited.

He heard the click of the lube bottle opening and the slick sounds of Chanyeol rubbing his fingers together. Sehun appreciated that he had warmed the lube up when he felt the first brush of Chanyeol’s index finger against him.

“Take a breath for me.” Chanyeol instructed, circling Sehun’s entrance. Sehun took a deep breath and melted into Chanyeol’s lap.

Sehun had been right. He did like it much better when it was Chanyeol doing it to him, especially since Chanyeol could find his prostate and he hadn’t been able to. Sehun buried his face in the edge of Chanyeol’s shirt, whimpering into the soft flannel as his boyfriend hit that magic spot over and over again, his fingers driving deeper into his body.

Sehun hadn’t really noticed when he started rutting against Chanyeol’s thigh, desperate for some friction, until that friction was gone. Chanyeol had pulled his fingers out and flipped Sehun onto his back, one leg pushed up to the side to give him better access. Sehun recognized the set of his brow as his look of intense concentration, the look he’d worn earlier while they were working on that stupid study guide. Now that single-minded concentration was focused on Sehun, on working his body. That alone sent him rocketing up towards his climax, helped by Chanyeol using one hand to stroke his dick and the other to push up against his prostate. Sehun yelled, spilled all over his stomach, and went limp.

“God, you’re so beautiful.” Chanyeol moaned, burying his face in Sehun’s damp hair. “I want to fuck you so badly right now.”

“Why not?” Sehun panted out.

“Because that’s a lot more of a stretch, and I don’t want to push you.”

Sehun pushed himself up on his elbows, looking down at Chanyeol’s very obvious erection straining the front of his pants. “What would you like to do then?”

“I have a couple ideas.” He pulled off his shirt and jeans, his boxers disappearing over the edge quickly afterwards. He poured a little more lube on his palm and then jerked himself off, hard and quick, kneeling over Sehun. When he finished he added to the mess all over Sehun’s stomach.

“I feel like a cum rag.” Sehun said when he’d finally caught his breath. Chanyeol laughed and reached over his head for the tissue box.

“You are a little spunky, that’s true.” He mopped him up as best he could and chucked the dirty tissues into the trashcan. “I’m gonna stay the night, if you don’t mind.”

“Nah. Tao figured you would after this so he’s prepared for you being here.”

“Did you two plan this?”

“Just a little.” Sehun grinned. “He’s a good wingman.”

“Well, we’ll have to pay him back.” Chanyeol snuggled into the curve of Sehun’s back, enjoying the feeling of their bodies skin to skin. Sehun eventually got a little too sticky to stand it and dragged Chanyeol into the showers. They had tumbled out of the stall, laughing and damp, when another curtain rattled back and Minseok’s wide eyes appeared. Chanyeol spotted him and started laughing even harder when Luhan’s pink head poked out of the curtain as well.

“Nothing to see here, boys. And I better not get any noise complaints about you.” Luhan warned, before Minseok disappeared from view with a yelp. Sehun and Chanyeol’s cackles covered any other noises he might have made as they headed to the safety of the room.

\--

Sehun had imagined the way the winter festival quite differently. Holding hands with Chanyeol, drinking hot cider with all their friends, exploring the different booths, kissing under the mistletoe. And some of that was true. He was with Chanyeol and all his friends, clutching an enormous white teddy bear that Chanyeol had won for him. There was a cup of hot cider in his hands, with a healthy dose of honey in it thanks to Yixing.

He’d come down with a cold immediately before midterms started and had performed his solo halfway out of his mind on cold medicine. He was sure he’d bombed that stupid history midterm. He’d refused to let Chanyeol kiss him because his face was so chapped from the constant nose blowing, and he didn’t want him to get sick. As it was, they were both wearing gloves so they could hold hands. Chanyeol had told him he was overreacting, but Sehun had been adamant.

Taemin had glued himself to Jinki and Qian, his shoulders rolled in against the cold, or maybe curling in on himself to protect his soft underbelly, so exposed now that he didn’t have Jongin as his constant companion. Jongin and Soojung were flirting at the back of the group; it was no secret that they were hooking up, and no secret that Taemin was unhappy about it. Jongin either was oblivious or didn’t care. Taemin had been spending a lot of time with Tao and Sehun, and also with Qian. The older girl had a kind of calm around her that made it easy for Taemin to sit quietly in her presence. Sehun had joined him in Qian’s room once, and found it to be a fluffy, cream colored oasis. It was a good place for him while he sorted through the feelings that Sehun was sure he had and Taemin wouldn’t admit, to other people, or to himself.

Minho and Junmyeon, despite the public space, were holding hands and talking closely as they walked. Sehun had never really understood their need for secrecy. The school was pretty liberal and he didn’t think Junmyeon would get ejected from student government for being bisexual. It didn’t seem like that much of a risk for them, but something must have happened if they felt like they needed to hide it. Maybe Baekhyun would know.

Baekhyun, completely shameless Baekhyun, who was wearing what looked like a sexy Santa costume in freezing weather. When Jongdae had commented on it, Baekhyun simply replied, “hoes don’t get cold.” Yixing seemed unbothered by his boyfriend’s clothes, and the stares it was earning them. Sunyoung had actually _snarled_ at someone who had looked at him for too long; Jongdae had never looked more in love with her.

And then there was Tao and Kibum, trailing off to the left with Garçons. They’d been talking quietly for most of the evening and kept stopping to wander off through the booths. Sehun was hoping so hard for them he would have tripped had Chanyeol not pulled him out of the way of the rock.

“Thanks.” Sehun said nasally, taking a swig of the cooling cider. He could tell the honey had all sunk down to the bottom, and that it was gonna suck when he finally got down to it. But Yixing had insisted, and he’d never steered him wrong.

“What do you see?” Kibum asked, coming just a touch too close to Tao for it to be casual. Tao had paused at a booth, enchanted by the shimmer of the stones.

“My mom always liked opals.” Tao said distractedly, running his finger over the pendant. It was a pear shaped opal, topped with six small diamonds and an opal chip at the top. It was pretty and delicate, and wouldn’t overwhelm his mother’s small frame.

“It’s definitely prettier than anything we’ve seen tonight.” Kibum nudged just a little closer, his fingers brushing against Tao’s as he reached for another piece. Tao’s heart stuttered in his chest. “I think these would look good on you.” He held up a pair of silver hoops inset with mother of pearl, pressing them close to Tao’s face to see how they’d look on him. Tao didn’t dare breathe or move. Kibum cocked his head to the side, considering them, and then turned to the booth owner. “I’d like to buy these.”

“No, Key, don’t buy those for me.” Tao pleaded, but Kibum and the woman ignored him. Kibum handed the earrings over to him.

“There. Consider it my Christmas present to you.” Kibum smiled, and Tao was sure the woman winked at him.

“T-thank you, Key.” Tao fumbled his way through buying the pendant for his mother and nearly tripped over Garçons as they turned away from the booth. Tao paused by a bench and Kibum stopped as well, Garçons sitting patiently at his feet. Under the lamplight, with the glow of all the Christmas lights, Tao thought Kibum had never looked prettier. “Hold this for me?” Tao handed him the card the earrings had come attached to before taking out the small gold hoops he’d been wearing. He replaced them with the silver ones Key had bought him.

“I was right. They do suit you.” Kibum was looking at him in a way that made Tao’s knees buckle. “Taozi, I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while, and I just haven’t found a good way to say it.” He ducked his head, looking shy for the first time. “Would you go on a date with me sometime?”

Tao stared at him, sure he had heard him wrong. “You want to go on a date, with me?” When Key nodded, Tao had to hold onto the bench to stay on his feet. “What could you ever see in me?”

“Tao.” Kibum lifted his chin, examining him carefully. “You’re not fishing for compliments. You actually don’t think there’s something I could see in you?”

“I mean. You’re a third year and you’re smart and funny and gifted and beautiful and you have hot ass friends and-” Tao heard shades of Sehun’s own insecurities in his words, but they were his, too. What could Kibum see in him when he lived with people like Jinki and Minho and Yixing? When he had friends like Junmyeon and Kyungsoo?

Rather than let him continue rambling on, Kibum kissed him. Any protests Tao had died immediately on his lips. When they pulled apart, Kibum looked upwards with a wry grin. “Mistletoe.” And sure enough, there was a bunch hanging above them. “Feel better?”

“Yeah.” Tao grabbed him by the head and kissed him again.

“Glad we got that out of the way. So, date?” Kibum said, starting to walk as if everything was normal.

“Yeah, definitely a date.” Tao reached out and took Kibum’s free hand. Truly a magical festival, he decided. Things had gone way better than expected.

Tao was still buzzing on cloud nine when he and Sehun returned to their dorm that night. Sehun had been dragging towards the end, the chill and the cold medicine a deadly combination. He’d started dozing off in the car and Chanyeol had carried him inside to put him to bed. It was almost disgustingly touching to watch the two of them together, Sehun mumbling sleepily at Chanyeol, who had undressed him and put him in warm pajamas before tucking him into bed with the giant teddy bear he’d won. He kissed Sehun on the forehead and hugged Tao before leaving.

“Sehun?” Tao said, unable to hold in his excitement.

“Mhm?” Sehun mumbled, one bleary eye opening.

“Kibum asked me out.”

Some spark of life seemed to come back into him. “That’s great!”

“I know, I can’t believe it.” Tao practically kicked his feet like a giddy child. “I should let you sleep.”

“Sleep, die, it’s pretty much the same thing.” Sehun whined, bundling himself in his covers. Tao turned off the lights and curled up in his own bed, his heart thrumming. He was going to get to take Kibum, beautiful third year Kibum, on a date.

\--

It was an important night for the roommates, and they’d both been fussing over their appearances for the past hour.

“I don’t know why you’re so worried about how you look. I mean, if things go the way you want, you’re going to end up looking like a wreck anyway.” Tao pointed out. That didn’t stop Sehun from examining his outfit in the mirror.

“I still want to look good _before_. And I’m not sure if we will tonight.” Sehun’s mouth twitched. “He’s taking it so slowly.”

“That’s a good thing, Hunnie. At least he didn’t just jam it up your ass and call it a day.” Tao pointed out. He’d been agonizing over his hair for at least 45 minutes. He and Kibum were just going to a little café together, after nearly a month of not seeing each other. Kibum had gone back to Daegu for the holiday, and Tao had returned to Qingdao on the same flight as Qian. Sehun and Chanyeol had been able to see each other over the holiday at least, but apparently Chanyeol had been digging in his heels about having sex. Tonight finally seemed like the night, and Sehun was about to explode he was so antsy.

Almost at the same time, Tao and Sehun got texts that their respective dates were outside. They gave each other good luck pats on the ass as they separated in the lobby. Chanyeol was driving them over to the frat house, and Tao and Kibum would be walking to the café.

Sehun could hardly sit still as they wove their way through the frat house. Every person who stopped to talk to Chanyeol felt like an intrusion on their evening and Sehun was practically stamping his foot by the time they got to the room.

“Finally! All to myself.” Sehun said, shutting the door behind them.

“All yours,” Chanyeol agreed, tugging Sehun in for a kiss. Sehun immediately went for Chanyeol’s belt and he stilled his hands. “Hunnie, if we do this…we’re doing this tonight.” Sehun’s response was to yank the belt violently out of the loops.

“Does that give you an answer?” Sehun asked sweetly. Chanyeol just laughed and pulled his hoodie over his head.

“Strip.”

Sehun did, with glee. Chanyeol paused to yank his mattress out into the open; Sehun slapped him on his bare ass. His boyfriend retaliated by tackling him onto the bed. Happy, open mouthed kisses mixed with laughter and tickling touches. It was everything Sehun could have thought he would have wanted for his first time. Chanyeol’s slow approach had made it much easier for him to open Sehun up, so much so that Sehun was stretched and waiting in what seemed like record time.

“You’re sure?” Chanyeol asked again as he rolled the condom onto himself.

“Yes, Yeollie, I’m sure.” He reached up and cradled Chanyeol’s face between his palms. The older boy just smiled and turned his cheek into one of his hands, eyes fluttering closed contentedly.

“Okay. Come here.” He lay down on his side, slinging one of Sehun’s legs over his hip. It felt something like cuddling, except that something blunt and slippery was pushing against Sehun’s rim and his breath hitched in his chest. Chanyeol heard it and kissed him gently, just as he started to push in. He caught most of Sehun’s whine in his mouth, sliding in as carefully as he could.

“Oh my God, oh my God Chanyeol.” Sehun moaned, his fingers scrabbling at Chanyeol’s back. “God, you feel so good.”

“Likewise.” Chanyeol grunted out. “Does it hurt?”

“ _No_.” Sehun rocked his hips down, making them both moan. “Please, please Chanyeol.”

It was slow, almost mindless. Chanyeol kept the pace steady and even, Sehun half curled around him and clutching him and kissing him. Every now and then Chanyeol would tilt his hips just right and send lightning up Sehun’s spine. Nearing the end, Sehun’s half dazed mind began to hum, “when two become one,” and he had never understood the sentiment until then. He was wrapped so tightly around Chanyeol that there was no beginning or end of them. Sehun held on just long enough to go over the edge with Chanyeol, and their breath mingled as they came down.

“Good?” Chanyeol asked, carefully sliding out.

“Better than good.” Sehun mumbled, sleepy eyes half-open. “Perfect.”

\--

Tao thought he was about to take off for the moon, he was so shaky. And since Kibum was holding his hand, he could feel every tremor.

“Zitao.” Kibum said quietly, pausing under the streetlamp. “Do I make you nervous?”

“Gee, what gave you that impression?” Tao managed. Kibum took his hand and put it on his chest. Tao could feel the uneven thump of his heart under the soft fabric of his sweater.

“You make me nervous, too. I’m not a mannequin.” Kibum laughed, ducking his head. “You’d think it would get easier when you get older, but first date jitters never leave.”

It did make Tao a little steadier to know that he wasn’t the only one freaking out. They kept walking towards the café, catching up on the month they’d been apart. By the time they made it to the café, Tao felt much better. They ordered their tea and pastries, and a bowl of water for Garçons.

“Tell me something I don’t know about you.” Kibum said, popping a piece of his brownie into his mouth. Tao chewed the bite of raspberry tart, mulling it over.

“In Chinese, Zitao means something like “son of a humble man,” but Tao can mean “peach”. My mom always calls me her little peach.”

“You are a little peach.”

“Your turn.”

“Hmm…” Kibum’s mouth twitched to the side while he thought. “I can rap.”

“I already knew that one. You sent me those XO She Knows songs, remember?”

“Shit. Um. I’m afraid of heights.”  He gestured at his eyepatch. “I was afraid of heights before but this affected my depth perception. It makes them worse.”

“I’ll hold your hand if we ever go up a tall building.” Tao promised. Kibum flashed him one of those brilliant smiles, and Tao’s heart melted just a little more.

They stopped and kissed several times on the way home. Tao knew Sehun was staying with Chanyeol overnight, so the room was empty for them. He didn’t know if it would be too forward to invite Kibum up, or even how to ask.

Kibum saved him the trouble and said goodnight outside the building. “I have to work in the morning.”

“Will you be okay walking home by yourself?” Tao kind of wanted to hit himself after saying that. Kibum was a full grown man, of course he could walk home alone.

“Jinki will meet me halfway. No one really likes when I’m out alone at night.” Kibum smiled gently. “Sleep well, Taozi.” They kissed one more time and Tao watched his shape disappear down the path.

He was unlocking his door when the door down the hall swung open, and Luhan poked his head out. “Oh good, you’re back.” He waved Tao over to his room; the younger boy went nervously.

“Is everything all right?” He asked in Mandarin. Luhan’s mouth was flattened into a worried line.

“Qian brought Taemin down to me, and I unlocked your door so he could go sit in there. He won’t talk to either of us. I think he’s waiting for you and Sehun to get back.” Luhan replied.

“Oh, shit. Thanks for putting him in there.” Tao hurried back to his room and found Taemin, his face swollen and tearstained, curled in Sehun’s afghan. Tao immediately texted his roommate to come home, and climbed onto the bed with Taemin. Their friend needed them.

\--

Sehun came home as fast as he could, barely waiting for Chanyeol to come to a complete stop before he jumped out of the car. All he knew was that Taemin needed him and Tao, and that was enough to make him run. Chanyeol knew how important it was, and didn’t feel envious. He would have done the same for Baekhyun or Jongdae, and Sehun would be back with him when he could.

Tao had Taemin’s head in his lap, gently stroking his hair. Taemin wasn’t crying hard, but tears would slip down his face every now and then. Sehun crossed the room slowly, trying to look as gentle as he could.

“Hi Taeminnie.” Sehun pulled himself up onto the bed, curling himself around Taemin. “What’s the matter, sweetheart?”

It was a little hard to understand him at first, but the more he talked, the more Tao and Sehun saw the problem. For months, Taemin had been examining his relationship with Jongin and realizing that it wasn’t just friendship between them anymore, but something stronger, something deeper. Taemin looked Sehun dead in the eyes and said, “I saw you with Chanyeol and all I could see was us. What we could be, if I wasn’t so scared.”

Taemin had been understandably scared. Not only was he suddenly realizing he wasn’t straight, but he was in love with his best friend. That would have been enough to cripple anyone. And then Jongin had started seeing Soojung in a different way. They were hooking up more often than the rest of the group thought, and Taemin was at the end of his tether. It was one thing to have a casual thing, but with how much time Jongin spent with her, it seemed like he was close to asking her for something more serious.

The howl that Taemin let out broke Sehun’s heart into a million pieces, and all he could do was hold his friend, try to hold him together by sheer force of will. Tao, over Taemin’s head, mouthed, “I’m going to break his legs,” to Sehun. Jongin had to be an absolute idiot, or willfully ignorant of what Taemin was going through. Sehun could forgive stupidity, but knowing avoidance of his supposed best friend’s issues were unforgivable.

“You can stay here as long as you need. Qian can let us into your room so we can get your things if you need.” Sehun said, stroking Taemin’s hair back. “Do you want some tea?”

“Tea might be good.” Taemin said thickly. “Can I borrow some clothes for tonight?”

“Sure.” Sehun found him a soft sweatshirt and a pair of pajama pants while Tao heated up the tea. It was mint, hopefully soothing. Sehun kind of wished they had something stronger to give him to calm him down and let him rest.

Thankfully, Luhan had already thought of that. He caught Tao in the hall and passed him a tiny bottle of whiskey, like they gave out on airplanes. “I better not hear anything about this,” he warned in Mandarin before walking away. Tao gave it to him with the mug of tea, and Taemin alternated sips of the two liquids. Soon he was sleepy and pliant enough that Sehun could scoot him over and tuck him into bed properly. He had just gotten off the bed to go squeeze in with Tao when Taemin caught him by the wrist.

“Stay with me?” Taemin asked. At that point he could have asked for Sehun’s left hand and he would have given him it, anything to ease the pain that was so obvious on his face.

“Of course.” He curled himself against Taemin’s back, holding him close and warm. Jongin needed to know, and soon, or Sehun and Tao were going to have to break his legs.

\--

Sehun had thanked God for his friends more than once, but never as much as he had when word made its way around quietly that Taemin needed help. Qian had basically adopted him as her own, and Sunyoung and Jongdae made a point of spending every Friday with him. Yixing and Jinki had opened their apartment as a safe haven if Taemin ever needed to get away from the dorms. Kris and Jonghyun had done the same with the frat. Junmyeon and Kyungsoo studied with him and made sure he ate. And Tao and Sehun were always there when he needed them. He’d never felt more loved, even when Jongin was slipping through his fingers.

He was purposefully ignoring Jongin tonight, instead spending his time as Sunyoung’s escort for the night. Tao and Kibum, and Sehun and Chanyeol, were close as always, making sure Taemin felt protected and safe. It had been one of the conditions of getting him to come to the concert. XO She Knows was performing in someone’s backyard, and their entire friend herd had been invited. So there they all were, crammed into a strange backyard, drinking from a slightly warm keg and milling about, waiting for the performances to start. They weren’t the only group performing, but they were the only ones that their group cared about.

“I’m gonna get a refill.” Chanyeol murmured to Sehun, holding his hand out for Sehun’s cup. He handed it over without thinking.

“You two are like a married couple.” Kibum giggled, resting his chin on Tao’s shoulder. The crowd was too big to bring Garçons, so he was relying on Tao for the night to keep him from running into things. It was going pretty well so far, even though Tao had pregamed with him at the apartment and he was giggly and drunk.

Sehun could see harmony descending on their group, if he could just make one very important switch. Soojung and Jongin were already playing tonsil hockey in the corner. No one had heard if Jongin had asked her to date, which was just another level of Taemin’s agony. The not knowing was almost worse than knowing.

He didn’t have much time to think about it, because Chanyeol came back with the beer just as Qian, Jinki, Luhan, Baekhyun, and Jongdae were filing onstage. They were close enough to the stage that Sehun could see Baekhyun scanning the crowd for Yixing, and the relief in his eyes when he found him. Yixing was Baekhyun’s anchor, and the main reason he felt safe dressing the way he did. He’d almost worn boy clothes that day, but Yixing had coaxed him into the pretty black dress he’d originally chosen. Baekhyun looked like a hot punk girl, all dark eyeliner and black leather and a dangerous tilt to his lips. It was a strong contrast to Qian’s quiet grace. They all looked cool, but it was hard to not pay attention to Qian and Baekhyun the most.

Sehun knew the words to their songs by now and spent most of their set singing along and dancing with Chanyeol and having a good time. From the corner of his eye, he could see Taemin halfheartedly dancing with Sunyoung. It broke his heart to see Taemin so defeated and tired.

In the mess of the crowd after the performance, Jongin finally rejoined the group. Soojung had seen a couple of her sorority sisters and gone off to talk to them. Taemin visibly flinched when he saw Jongin coming and shrank into the protection of Sunyoung’s side. Her eyes hardened when she saw Jongin sauntering up towards them.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Jongin said, as if he didn’t have Soojung’s lipstick all over him, and he hadn’t been ignoring his best friend for weeks straight. Taemin’s lower lip trembled and Jonghyun immediately pulled him off to the side to talk to him. “What’s the matter with him?”

“Jongin, I should knock your ass out.” Sehun snarled, the drink loosening his tongue. “Are you really that fucking stupid?”

“What are you talking about?” Jongin was bristling already, but Sehun was just about at his patience’s end.

“I’m talking about the way you’ve been neglecting your best friend. And ignoring some really big things that have been happening to him.” Sehun shook his head. “Have you thought about him at all lately?”

“Of course I have! What’s the matter with him?” Jongin reached out and grabbed Taemin’s shoulder, not noticing the way Jonghyun was glaring at him. “Taeminnie, are you okay?”

“No, I’m not.” His voice was thick with tears. “Why don’t you just leave me alone like you have been?”

“Is this about Soojung?” Jongin let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s not like I’m married to her, we’re just hooking up.”

“It’s not about Soojung! It’s about you and me!” Taemin was crying full out now, his grip on Jonghyun’s hand turning his knuckles white. Jongin blinked in confusion. “I’m in love with you, you fucking twit!”

There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Jongin turned and walked away. Taemin collapsed in Jonghyun’s arms, and Kibum and Chanyeol immediately had to hold onto their respective boyfriends to keep them from going to beat the shit out of Jongin.

“He needs you more right now.” Chanyeol reminded Sehun. And he did. He grabbed hold of Tao and Sehun as soon as they reached him, letting them hold up the weight of his sobbing body. Kyungsoo, who rarely drank and even more rarely came out with them, drove the three freshman back to their dorm in Chanyeol’s car.

“Do you need an extra pair of hands?” Kyungsoo asked as he watched Sehun and Tao take Taemin out of the backseat.

“We’ve got him. Thanks though.” Sehun bumped fists with Kyungsoo through the window and followed his roommate and his teary friend upstairs.

They were well prepared for this by now. Taemin had his own stash of clothes and liquor in Sehun’s closet, and Sehun had gotten used to sharing his bed. He and Tao had something of a schedule so that they could see their boyfriends without abandoning Taemin. It had been working pretty well, but Sehun had a feeling that Taemin was going to need them a lot more in the coming days.

\--

Soojung came first.

When she arrived at the door, Sehun had hesitated on opening the door. Taemin was sitting at his desk, working on some homework with his headphones on. Sehun almost wanted to ignore the knock, but he knew Soojung well enough to know she’d just wait there until he let her in.

So he did, and she made a beeline for Taemin. He watched her warily as she approached, unsure of what she was about to do. She set her bag down and emptied it: a box of tissues, a movie, a little bottle of vodka, some gummy candy, and a container of frosting.

“I’m so sorry Taemin.” She said, wrapping him in a hug that he reciprocated slowly. “If I had known…I would never have done it. It’s not worth coming in between you two.” She pulled back to look at him. “It’s done between us, but I hope that you and I can still be friends.” When Taemin was silent, her shoulders sagged a little. “I get that it’s hard for you to be around me. I’ll give you your space. I brought stuff so you and Sehun could relax with some of your favorite things.” She had turned for the door when Taemin finally spoke.

“No one else knows I like the buttercream frosting the best.” He said, looking at the container. His eyes were wide, but not teary. Sehun counted that as a win. “I don’t blame you for this. It’s not your fault.”

“No, but I contributed to something that hurt you. So I want to make it up to you.” Soojung kissed the top of his head. Sehun felt a little like crying himself. “Hunnie, why don’t you take a break? I’ve got Taemin.”

“Are you sure?” Sehun asked Taemin. He nodded.

“You’ve spent enough time babysitting me. Go see Chanyeol for a while or something.” He kept shooing Sehun out until he finally left.

When Jongin showed up, Tao and Sehun were both home, getting ready for their weekly _Game of Thrones_ date with Taemin. No one had seen Jongin for a week, not since the night he walked away from Taemin. But there he was, wearing a beanie and looking like he hadn’t slept for that whole week.

“I don’t think he wants to see you.” Tao said tightly, keeping the door most of the way closed.

“Please. I need to see him.” Jongin looked about ready to camp outside their door until they let him in, so Tao relented. Sehun was already holding Taemin’s hand, prepared for whatever came next.

Jongin knelt on the floor next to Taemin, and looked his best friend in the eyes for the first time in a while. “Taeminnie…I understand if you don’t ever want to see me or speak to me again. I was horrible to you, and I ignored you. I looked the other way because I was scared. Because while you were figuring it out, and coming to terms with being gay…I was scared of it. I didn’t want to feel like this. I didn’t want to be anything but the way we’ve always been. And then, when you fell apart in front of me, I realized that I was hurting you more by trying to keep us the same way. And that the way we’ve always been is the way that we’re supposed to be.”

He pulled his beanie off, revealing a head of pastel pink hair. “Pink’s your favorite color, if you’re still my Taeminnie. I’m so sorry. I don’t deserve you, and I don’t deserve to ask this of you, but,” he steeled himself, “will you be my boyfriend?”

There was a moment of tense silence; Tao and Sehun didn’t even dare breathe or make any movements in case it interrupted them. Taemin blinked a couple of times, and then punched Jongin in the shoulder. It was the most Taemin thing they’d seen him do in ages.

“You’re a shithead. But I guess you’re my shithead, and I’ll have to put up with you.” Taemin shook his head. “Yes, Jongin, I will be your boyfriend.”

Tao let out a triumphant whoop so loud that it scared everyone in the room. “Happy endings all around!”

“Come on, let’s go to our room.” Jongin helped Taemin up and after a round of hugs, the twin tornadoes went back upstairs to their own room. Sehun collapsed on his bed.

“Oh thank God that’s over. I was getting so stressed.” Sehun moaned.

“I’m glad too.” Tao looked at the laptop, where the episode was booted up. “Um. Fuck this, let’s go see our boyfriends.”

“Agreed.” They tumbled out of their dorm room, heading for the comfort and warmth of their respective boyfriends. Sehun knew this wasn’t going to be the end of the problems they’d see in college, but it was a relief to be through it. And to know that his friend group was strong enough to support any of them when they needed it.

For right now, though, he wanted to be with Chanyeol, and enjoy the peace with him. There was no better place to be than with him, with his big ears and goofy smile and booming laugh. It occurred to Sehun dimly that he probably should tell Chanyeol he was in love with him. But that could wait.   


End file.
